Blair loses voters' trust: poll

CatoCooper13 · 08-30-2003, 06:09 AM

AFP - More than half of Britons believe British Prime Minister Tony Blair cannot be trusted, according to a poll published a day after he dismissed claims of misleading the country over the war in Iraq.

A total 59 per cent of Britons believe Blair cannot be trusted compared with 27 per cent who say he can, according to a YouGov poll in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Blair put his personal credibility on the line over charges that his government exaggerated the case for war in Iraq, saying he would have resigned if that had been true.

"If it were true it would have meant that we had behaved in the most disgraceful way, and I would have had to resign as prime minister," Blair told a judicial inquiry into the presumed suicide of weapons expert David Kelly.

The Ministry of Defence named Kelly as the source of a BBC report that the government "sexed up" a September 2002 dossier on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction to help justify going to war.

The scientist's body was found with a slit wrist in woodland near his home on July 18, a week after he was named as the source.

According to the YouGov poll, 47 per cent of respondents said their opinion of Blair had gone down as a result of the inquiry into Kelly's death while the figure was 54 per cent in relation to Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

A total 36 per cent said their opinion of the BBC had fallen.

In relation to the government as a whole, only 22 per cent felt "it has, on balance, been honest and trustworthy", a fall of two percentage points since July, before the Kelly inquiry opened.

Meanwhile, the opposition Conservatives have failed to capitalise on the row over Iraq, making just one percentage point gain on the Labour government in the past month.

According to the poll, 37 per cent of respondents said they would vote Labour should a national election be held the next day, the same as in July, while 35 per cent said they would back the Conservative party, up from 34 per cent.

YouGov interviewed 2,365 British adults online between Tuesday and Thursday

©AAP 2003

View Poll Results: Is Britian's PM Tony Blair competent enough to remain as PM?
Yes, he does his best for the country	1	33.33%
No, he's a complete idiot as he misled Britons about Iraq	2	66.67%
Undecided	0	0%
Voters: 3. You may not vote on this poll

08-30-2003, 06:09 AM	#1 (permalink)
CatoCooper13 Am attached and in LOVE! Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Sonoma County, California Posts: 6,419	Blair loses voters' trust: poll AFP - More than half of Britons believe British Prime Minister Tony Blair cannot be trusted, according to a poll published a day after he dismissed claims of misleading the country over the war in Iraq. A total 59 per cent of Britons believe Blair cannot be trusted compared with 27 per cent who say he can, according to a YouGov poll in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Blair put his personal credibility on the line over charges that his government exaggerated the case for war in Iraq, saying he would have resigned if that had been true. "If it were true it would have meant that we had behaved in the most disgraceful way, and I would have had to resign as prime minister," Blair told a judicial inquiry into the presumed suicide of weapons expert David Kelly. The Ministry of Defence named Kelly as the source of a BBC report that the government "sexed up" a September 2002 dossier on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction to help justify going to war. The scientist's body was found with a slit wrist in woodland near his home on July 18, a week after he was named as the source. According to the YouGov poll, 47 per cent of respondents said their opinion of Blair had gone down as a result of the inquiry into Kelly's death while the figure was 54 per cent in relation to Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon. A total 36 per cent said their opinion of the BBC had fallen. In relation to the government as a whole, only 22 per cent felt "it has, on balance, been honest and trustworthy", a fall of two percentage points since July, before the Kelly inquiry opened. Meanwhile, the opposition Conservatives have failed to capitalise on the row over Iraq, making just one percentage point gain on the Labour government in the past month. According to the poll, 37 per cent of respondents said they would vote Labour should a national election be held the next day, the same as in July, while 35 per cent said they would back the Conservative party, up from 34 per cent. YouGov interviewed 2,365 British adults online between Tuesday and Thursday ©AAP 2003 __________________ Til I hold my bub in my arms.

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