Promises of tax cuts unconvincing to voters
Promises of tax cuts unconvincing to voters
Just under six in ten (58%) think whichever party gets into government after the next general election will not be able to afford tax cuts for working people, with 28% saying that they believe they will be able to afford some.
This pessimism cuts right across party lines, with just over half of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat voters also believing the next government won’t be able to hand out tax cuts, despite many of the headline grabbing announcements from the Conservative conference in particular.
This pessimism was even higher among UKIP voters, with two thirds (69%) believing a tax give away to be unaffordable post-2015.
General pessimism about the nation’s finances
Feeding into this appears to be a general pessimism about the nation’s finances. Although the budget deficit has been reduced from £163 billion in the Coalition’s 2010 budget to £108 billion last year, only a quarter (24%) of voters think the budget deficit has been reduced. A further 25% think the deficit is more or less the same as it was 4 years ago, and 38% actually believe it is higher.
Even Conservative voters are divided on the issue, 35% believing the deficit is higher despite claims from their party that the opposite is true.
Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 1,948 GB adults aged 18+ from 18th to 20th November 2014. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.
