Just 6% of Conservative voters think Jeremy Hunt’s budgetary measures will leave their households better off
Half of all Britons (50%) think the Autumn Statement will have a negative impact on their households, according to a YouGov/Times poll conducted in the wake of the announcements.
This includes nearly half of Conservative voters (45%) and a majority of Labour voters (57%) who believe the budgetary measures will leave them or their families worse off.
Just a fraction of the public (4%) think the changes will leave their families better off, including 6% of Tory voters and 4% of Labour voters.
Only 15% of Britons believe the Autumn Statement will leave Britain better off
As far as Britain as a whole is concerned, more than a third of the public (35%) say they think the policies contained within the statement will make the country worse off.
Three in ten people (30%) think Hunt’s statement won’t make much of a difference to Britain, twice the amount who say the country will be better off as a result (15%).
A quarter of Conservative voters (25%) say the country will be better off, with 28% saying Britain will be worse off.
In contrast, 44% of Labour voters think the statement’s measures will leave Britain worse off and just 10% better off.
But what do Britons think of the policies within the Autumn Statement?
Despite most Britons thinking the Autumn Statement will either not make much difference to the country or will leave it worse off, some of the changes contained within it have won support.
Most people (56%) believe the tax rises suggested by the chancellor are necessary (17% think they are unnecessary).
Of individual measures asked about, an increase to the national living wage from £9.50 an hour to £10.42 an hour is the most popular of Hunt’s suggestions, with 83% of the public saying it’s a good idea.
Also well-supported is the plan to increase the windfall tax on energy firms, which is backed by more than three-quarters of Britons (76%).
Three quarters of Britons (75%) also support increasing pensions by 10.1% next year, in line with inflation.
In contrast, just 26% think delaying the introduction of a cap on social care costs by two years is a good idea – the least popular measure tested.
A third say delaying the cap is the wrong priority for the current time, while 41% say they don’t know if delaying the cap is a good idea or not.
Britons divided on whether the Autumn Statement was fair or not, but believe tax rises are necessary
There is uncertainty around the overall fairness of the Autumn Statement, with nearly four in ten Britons (38%) saying they don’t know if it was fair or not, higher than the 31% who think it was fair and the 30% who think it was not.
Half of Conservative voters think it was fair (48%), while more than one in five (22%) think it was unfair and 30% of Tories don’t know.
By contrast, Labour voters tend to think it was unfair by 40% to 23%, while more than a third (37%) say they don’t know.
Despite many people believing the measures in the Autumn Statement could have a detrimental impact on themselves or their families, the majority of Britons think the tax rises included in the chancellor’s statement are necessary – 56% say they are, compared to 17% who say they are not.
Nearly seven in ten Conservative voters (69%) think the tax rises are necessary, as do 52% of Labour voters.
In contrast, 11% of Tories and 23% of Labour supporters think they are unnecessary.
Picture: Getty
