Trust in the Government Low in UK
February 10 2003
Trust in the UK Government is low, with a quarter to a third of Britons believing that the Government is acting in the public interest in relation to each of five different risk issues. This is according to one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of British attitudes to risk in recent years, carried out by MORI Social Research Institute for the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The key findings on trust included:
- Around a third of people in Britain agree that they trust the government 'a lot or a little' to tell the truth about climate change (32%), radioactive waste (35%) and GM food (31%).
- People's trust in scientists depends on who they are working for. For GM food, two-thirds trust scientists working for either universities (67%) or environmental groups (63%) but only 37% trust scientists working for Government. For climate change 71% trust scientists working for universities or environmental groups compared to only 42% trusting those working for Government.
- Consumer organisations also came out well; with over two-thirds trusting consumer organisations to tell the truth about radiation from mobile phones (74%), GM food (70%) and genetic testing (68%).
In terms of evaluation of government:
- No more than a fifth agree that 'the Government is doing a good job' in any of the five risk areas and a minority feel that 'the Government is acting in the public interest'.
- Less than one in 10 agree that 'the Government provides all relevant information to the public' in relation to climate change (seven per cent), radioactive waste (six per cent) and GM food (10%).
- Over half agree that 'the Government distorts facts in its favour' in relation to climate change (55%), radioactive waste (59%) and GM food (52%).
- Less than a fifth agree that 'the Government listens to what ordinary people think' regarding climate change (14%), radioactive waste (13%), GM food (16%), radiation from mobile phones (15%) and genetic testing (18%).
Finally, in terms of thoughts on science in society:
- Nearly three-quarters (72%) agree that 'on the whole, science will make our lives easier'
- Eight in 10 people (80%) agree that 'science makes a good contribution to society'.
- Nearly nine in 10 people (89%) agree that 'we need scientists in today's society'.
- Twelve per cent feel that 'science does more harm than good', although nearly a quarter (24%) agree that science seems to be out of control.
- Over half are concerned about the funding and perceived independence of science, with 54% agreeing that 'the funding of science is becoming too commercialised' and 60% agreeing that 'the independence of scientists is often put at risk by the interest of their funders'.
- Around two thirds (67%) feel that 'scientists should listen more to what ordinary people think'.
The UEA/MORI risk survey was carried out among a representative sample of 1,547 adults aged 15 years and older, face-to-face in-home across 125 sampling points in Great Britain between 6-31 July 2002, with sub-samples of approximately 300 used for the detailed questions about each of the five risk cases: climate change, radiation from mobile phones, radioactive waste, GM food and genetic testing. All data have been weighted to the known profile of the British population.
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
