An ICM poll for the BBC today is showing a increase in support for British military involvement in Afghanistan. There are still more people opposed than supportive of British involvement - 48% to 40%, but this is down from when ICM last asked in 2006 when the figures were 53% opposed and 31% in support.
I’m inclined to agree with ICM’s Nick Sparrow that Prince Harry’s deployment in Afghanistan may have boosted support, but that’s probably only a part of it. Coverage of Harry in Afghanistan was all positive, but then so is most of the mainstream news coverage of British action in Afghanistan - it is normally reported in the context of brave British soldiers fighting against the Taliban in Helmand, compare and contrast with the more mixed portrayal of British involvement in Iraq.
More from Populus’ latest poll in today’s Times. Populus found a small majority (52%) in favour of replacing Trident, with 20% saying they supported Trident in the past but don’t think it should be replaced now and 23% saying they have never supported Britain having a nuclear deterrent.
The was a very sharp contrast between the opinions of men and women - 64% of men supported the replacement of Trident, with 33% opposed. Amongst women the figures were 41% in favour, 52% opposed. YouGov found a similar contrast between men and women on attitudes towards nuclear power back in July. It looks as though nuclear weapons and power is one of those rare issues, along with things like internet pornography, embryonic research and belief in the supernatural where women and man have sharply contrasting views.
Britain’s current nuclear deterrent, the Trident system, is nearing the end of its lifespan and the govermment will soon have to decide how, and if, to replace it. Greenpeace has today published a new MORI poll, which shows the public are ambivalent at best about whether Britain should replace Trident.
Asked a straight question on whether or not Britain should develop a replacement for Trident 44% think we should, 46% think we shouldn’t. When, using a split sample, the sheer cost of developing a new nuclear system was included in the question (an estimate of £25 billion - a figure that seems to be around the top end of the price scale when it comes to alternatives to Trident) support fell to 33%, with 54% opposed.
MORI then asked people when they thought it appropriate to actually use nuclear weapons. The public were overwhelmingly against using nuclear weapons against countries that do not have nuclear weapons (5% support with 87% against), or who have nuclear weapons but are not using them (11% support with 77% against). Even if Britain were to come under nuclear attack itself, only 55% would support using nuclear weapons in response. This question used identical wording to a Gallup poll back in 1955, and showed a significant fall in support for the use of nuclear weaponry since the height of the cold war - back in 1955 only 16% of people would have opposed using the H-Bomb in response to a nuclear attack on Britain, while today 32% would oppose nuclear retailiation.