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| Margaret Thatcher taught Britain to love business, poll finds | Margaret Thatcher taught Britain to love business, poll finds |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| Margaret Thatcher taught Britain to love business, but not to hate government, according to a YouGov poll on the day of the former prime minister's funeral. | |
| A clear majority of Britons endorse the free-market virtues that Thatcher championed, the poll – presented at a conference at the Guardian's headquarters – shows. | A clear majority of Britons endorse the free-market virtues that Thatcher championed, the poll – presented at a conference at the Guardian's headquarters – shows. |
| For example, 52% agree that "companies and industries that are not competitive … should be allowed to close", even if this means job losses. That compares with 27% who believe subsidies should be deployed to protect jobs, a practice that Thatcherites dismiss as propping up lame ducks. | |
| Five years into the financial crisis, the country retains a strikingly Thatcherite distaste for regulation – 45% say "businesses work best when they have the freedom to grow their business without government interference", compared with 40% who say businesses work better when regulated to protect the consumer and the worker. | Five years into the financial crisis, the country retains a strikingly Thatcherite distaste for regulation – 45% say "businesses work best when they have the freedom to grow their business without government interference", compared with 40% who say businesses work better when regulated to protect the consumer and the worker. |
| The woman who insisted that the good Samaritan would have been forgotten if he did not have money would be delighted to learn that profits are still popular today: 52% say that when "a British company reports growing profits, it usually a sign that it is doing well by its customers and employees as well as its shareholders", 20 points more than the 32% who believe high profits are usually a sign of a company "exploiting its workers and/or its customers". | |
| And just as business is revealed as popular, its old adversary – the trade union – receive a public thumbs-down. By 45% to 34%, the public tends to say a stronger union movement would be bad as opposed to good for Britain. | |
| But while Thatcher may have succeeded in changing Britons' long-term attitudes to capitalism, her views on the scope of government's role in national life have not been so eagerly embraced. Nearly three decades after Thatcher famously said there was "no such thing" as society, 59% of respondents said national and local governments should be most responsible for tackling social problems in Britain today – overwhelmingly more than the 29% who said this should be left to individuals, families and voluntary organisations. | But while Thatcher may have succeeded in changing Britons' long-term attitudes to capitalism, her views on the scope of government's role in national life have not been so eagerly embraced. Nearly three decades after Thatcher famously said there was "no such thing" as society, 59% of respondents said national and local governments should be most responsible for tackling social problems in Britain today – overwhelmingly more than the 29% who said this should be left to individuals, families and voluntary organisations. |
| The Thatcherite policy of privatisation also fails to chime with the British public today – 61% agreed that more public utilities, including energy and water, are "best run by the public sector", versus just 26% who said private companies answerable to shareholders were the best suited. | The Thatcherite policy of privatisation also fails to chime with the British public today – 61% agreed that more public utilities, including energy and water, are "best run by the public sector", versus just 26% who said private companies answerable to shareholders were the best suited. |
| The YouGov research – contrary to other polls – also suggested Brits have cooled off on the idea of Thatcher's flagship "right to buy" policy, with 42% supporting it, versus 49% who agreed with a statement saying social housing should be kept in public hands "for future generations in need". | The YouGov research – contrary to other polls – also suggested Brits have cooled off on the idea of Thatcher's flagship "right to buy" policy, with 42% supporting it, versus 49% who agreed with a statement saying social housing should be kept in public hands "for future generations in need". |
| There was a narrow rejection of the monetarist idea that it is more important to target inflation, and keep it low, than to try to achieve full employment. | There was a narrow rejection of the monetarist idea that it is more important to target inflation, and keep it low, than to try to achieve full employment. |
| Asked what the government should do to secure prosperity in the long term, 49% said "protect jobs, ensure full employment and maintain spending power in the economy" versus 41% who preferred "keep[ing] down prices, inflation and government borrowing". | Asked what the government should do to secure prosperity in the long term, 49% said "protect jobs, ensure full employment and maintain spending power in the economy" versus 41% who preferred "keep[ing] down prices, inflation and government borrowing". |
| • YouGov interviewed 1,952 UK adults for its poll on 15-16 of April |