Britons' trust in institutions falls to record low - Edelman

[webfact]

Britons' trust in institutions falls to record low - Edelman

 

FILE PHOTO: People carrying British Union Jack flag themed umbrellas walk past the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons' mistrust of government, business, the media and charities rose to the highest in at least 20 years last year, with only Russians admitted to less confidence in their country's institutions, according to a long-running survey.

 

U.S. public relations firm Edelman ran the study from Oct. 19 to Nov. 18, a time of turmoil in Britain when parliament delayed the country's planned departure from the European Union and Prime Minister Boris Johnson called a snap election.

 

Britain had ranked fifth from bottom in the trust rankings in the previous year's survey, and fell past Ireland, Spain and Japan to the second-lowest spot in the research released on Monday, behind only Russia among the 28 countries surveyed.

 

Chinese citizens expressed the highest confidence in their country's institutions, the same as the year before, according to Edelman, which conducted 34,000 online interviews globally.

 

The results contrast with other surveys of the quality of public institutions, such as Transparency International's corruption perceptions index, where Britain and Japan rank among the less corrupt countries, and China is mid-table.

 

Britain's ranking was its lowest in the survey's 20-year history, and Britain also showed a big divide between the views of what the researchers called the 'informed public' - who were more trusting - and the 'mass population'.

 

Respondents who were aged between 25 and 64, had a university degree, were in the top quarter of earners for their age and reported a strong interest in current affairs were deemed 'informed', while anyone else was classified otherwise.

 

Three fifths of Britons said they were losing faith in democracy, and a small majority said capitalism was doing more harm than good.

 

However, extra polling conducted after Johnson's Dec. 12 election victory showed a 10% rise in trust in government, and fewer people saying the country was on the wrong track.

 

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Toby Chopra)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-20

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[DoctorG]

I no longer trust British police services. 

Grooming gangs ignored so as to not upset the minorities.

Arrests for on-line jokes.

Police willing to investigate non-criminal offences, but do little to curb street violence.

[Baerboxer]

12 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

I no longer trust British police services. 

Grooming gangs ignored so as to not upset the minorities.

Arrests for on-line jokes.

Police willing to investigate non-criminal offences, but do little to curb street violence.

Totally agree.

 

The investigation into the very highly unusual wealth of disgraced former MP Keith Vaz has been stalled for some time - allegedly due to his ill health. He has a habit of becoming "ill" when convenient. The DPP decided prosecuting him for his involvement with Romanian male prostitutes and recorded willingness to buy cocaine for them wasn't in the public interest following a cursory police investigation. Now, thanks to a miraculous recovery, this louse has been elected Chair of East Leicester Labour Party! Will the police bother to investigate how he acquired property worth millions and had all his offspring privately educated whilst a career MP for almost all his working life? Nah, course not. And he'll be still known as Mr. Teflon and Mr. Brown envelope!

 

Posters here are quick to comment on local politicians. They don't know what's going on in their home countries!

 

The British police have gone from one of the best in the world to one of the worst. 

[dunroaming]

It is not surprising given the events of the last couple of years.  Pledges broken and politicians lying about everything at the drop of a hat.  We are probably just seeing the veneer of respectability being peeled back and what is underneath has been there all along.   Britain is a country broken by those who are supposed to lead us.  There is little chance of any trust being rebuilt until we clear out all the current shower of inadequate fools who we "employ" to govern us.

 

No quick fix I am afraid as this wound is very much self inflicted! 

[Thingamabob]

Entirely agree. This applies to the police and the judiciary, with good reason.

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, dunroaming said:

It is not surprising given the events of the last couple of years.  Pledges broken and politicians lying about everything at the drop of a hat.  We are probably just seeing the veneer of respectability being peeled back and what is underneath has been there all along.   Britain is a country broken by those who are supposed to lead us.  There is little chance of any trust being rebuilt until we clear out all the current shower of inadequate fools who we "employ" to govern us.

 

No quick fix I am afraid as this wound is very much self inflicted! 

Britain has been broken for the last three years, mainly through remainers trying to block Brexit. Now we have a strong majority government so things will change drastically, as shown by the increased 10% public trust since the election.

[lungbing]

You know very well the mistrust dates back well before this government.

[DoctorG]

9 hours ago, rhyddid said:

Well gents, you just voted the present government !

From article:

However, extra polling conducted after Johnson's Dec. 12 election victory showed a 10% rise in trust in government, and fewer people saying the country was on the wrong track.