Just over half (51%) of Brits feel prepared for the spending cuts ahead, although this approval comes before specific cuts have been outlined.
Prime Minister David Cameron recently announcement that “the legacy we have been left is so bad, the measures that we need to deal with it will be unavoidably tough” and that the nation’s financial situation was far worse than previously expected.
And while most feel prepared, a significant proportion (42%) feels ‘unprepared’ for a change in lifestyle as a result of cuts.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the policy of early budget cuts – championed by the Conservative party during their election campaign – receives biggest support from Conservative supporters. 73% claim to be ready for cuts compared to 47% of Lib Dem supporters and just 38% of Labour supporters. Accordingly, the highest percentage of respondents who ‘do not [feel] prepared’ for such cuts are Labour supporters (54% compared to 46% of Lib Dems and 25% of Conservatives).
And while in general, most (55%) support the Government’s proposed cuts to public spending, a similar party bias emerges here too – a sizeable 88% of Conservatives support the measures compared to 51% of Lib Dem supporters and just one quarter (25%) of Labour supporters. While 61% of Labour supporters and 28% of Lib Dem supporters oppose the cuts, just three percent of Conservative supporters feel the same.
So at the moment it seems most people are behind the PM – but it remains to be seen what the reaction will be once specific cuts begin to make their mark.
