19 Sep 2024 Annual Survey of UK Public Opinion on Foreign Policy
As the new Government settles in, this year’s BFPG Annual Survey of UK Public Opinion on Foreign Policy, the sixth edition of the survey, explores the British public’s support for the new Government’s ambitions for a ‘reconnected’ Britain. Against the backdrop of growing global insecurity, it finds that Britons are deeply cautious of engagement with nations whose values may not always align with their own, and particularly of engagement with the UK’s strategic rivals Russia and China.
Britons’ caution about the world around them does not translate into significant support for increased spending on national security or international development though, with Britons very concerned about the financial costs of any such uplift. Britons do, however, place significant emphasis on partnerships with the UK’s traditional allies, with Britons now overwhelmingly supporting a wide range of potential cooperation with the EU. Meanwhile, Britons are very concerned about the impact a second Trump term could have on the bilateral relationship, a relationship they value deeply.
Read the Full Report
Read the Executive Summary
Key Findings
– European Union: Britons are strongly supportive of a ‘reset’ of relations with the EU, such as cooperation to reduce irregular migration (77%), reducing barriers to trade (75%), and signing a UK-EU security pact (69%). Even among Leave voters, closer cooperation is widely endorsed, including reducing barriers to trade (69%) and signing a UK-EU security pact (57%).
– United States: The United States is viewed as the UK’s closest ally (54%) but Britons are very apprehensive about a potential second Trump term, which Britons believe would have a negative effect on global security (54%), European security (50%) and UK-US relations (45%).
– Defence Spending: While, at a surface level, Britons support (71%) increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP either now or over the next few years, the majority of Britons oppose increasing defence spending if it requires spending less on the NHS (64%), education (53%) or welfare (51%).
– Middle East: The majority (62%) of Britons distrust Israel to act responsibly in the world, just nine percentage points lower than the proportion of Britons who distrust China (71%). There is strong support among Britons for calling for an immediate ceasefire (71%), increasing aid to Gaza (52%), and to a lesser extent, for suspending arms sales to Israel (44%) and recognising a Palestinian state (43%).
– Ukraine: Britons’ support for Ukraine largely endures and a plurality (47%) of Britons believe the UK should support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Just 8% believe the UK should withdraw support from Ukraine.
– China: Britons are very cautious of engagement with China. Just 13% of Britons support allowing Chinese tech companies to operate in the UK, while only 8% support China building infrastructure in the UK, such as nuclear plants and 5G technology.
– International Development: Britons are highly sceptical of the benefits the UK’s international development and aid programmes bring – 56% don’t believe it helps tackle irregular migration and 45% don’t believe it makes the UK safer. In turn, only 11% of Britons want to see an immediate return to spending 0.7% GNI on international development.
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