The Independent

Survey shows UK public badly misinformed

Jul 152013

Majority of answers on key issues factually incorrect.

by Jonathan Paige

A new survey for the Royal Statistical Society and King's College London shows public opinion is repeatedly off the mark on issues including crime, benefit fraud and immigration.

The research, carried out by Ipsos Mori from a phone survey of 1,015 people aged 16 to 75, lists ten misconceptions held by the British public. Among the biggest misconceptions are:

Benefit fraud: the public think that £24 of every £100 of benefits is fraudulently claimed. Official estimates are that just 70 pence in every £100 is fraudulent – so the public conception is out by a factor of 34.
Immigration: some 31 percent of the population is thought to consist of recent immigrants, when the figure is actually 13 percent. Even including illegal immigrants, the figure is only about 15 percent. On the issue of ethnicity, black and Asian people are thought to make up 30 percent of the population, when the figure is closer to 11 percent.
Crime: some 58 percent of people do not believe crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19 percent lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53 per cent lower than in 1995. Some 51 percent think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.
Teen pregnancy is thought to be 25 times higher than the official estimates: 15 per cent of of girls under 16 are thought to become pregnant every year, when official figures say the amount is closer to 0.6 per cent….

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Britain calls for EU to halve emissions by 2030

May 272013

News blog

Climate Change Secretary says target is ambitious but achievable, will require an increase in renewable energy.

from The Independent

"Britain has challenged Europe to sign up to an ambitious target of cutting carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

"Ed Davey, the Climate Change Secretary, called on fellow EU governments to sign up to the target as part of a global climate agreement in 2015.

"The proposal marks a shift in the UK's position after internal coalition wrangling over climate change. The British government wants the EU to agree to 40 percent reduction of carbon emissions from 1990 levels, with an 'ambition' for it to be extended to 50 percent when the agreement is reached in two years. …"

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The great civil service sell-off

May 142013

Public Values

75,000 staff to be transferred to private sector.

from The Independent

Jointly-owned companies comprised of private-sector investors and their employees are set to take over millions of pounds in state-owned services in England, according to Oliver Wright of The Independent, resulting in "the largest privatization programs since the 1980s." Great Britain's public sector unions label the initiative "privatization by stealth."

Source

Over half of Guantanamo Bay prisoners on hunger strike as number increases to 84

Apr 222013

News blog

Mass protest prompted by authorities' Koran search.

from The Independent

"Over half of all detainees at the US-run Guantanamo Bay military prison are now taking part in a hunger strike, with many being force-fed, a US military spokesman confirmed today.

"The number of prisoners on hunger strike has risen to 84, an increase of 32 since last Wednesday, with 16 now receiving 'enteral feedings,' a process involving being force-fed via tubes.

"Inmates at the facility, which houses 166 detainees, have been refusing food since February 6, when they claim prison officials searched their Korans for contraband, an act they considered to be religious desecration. …"

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Israel’s successes have come at a cost to its democracy

Apr 172013

News blog

Continued flouting of international law a black mark on country's 65th anniversary.

from The Independent

"For all its spectacular achievements, the Israel of 2013 is falling short of Zionism’s most basic goal: to make for the Jews a country like any other. Instead Israel has become a state that flouts international law, scorns global condemnation and is increasingly mired in isolation. Israel was supposed to be a safe haven, but now watches its young emigrate to escape conflict and seek normalcy in the US and, in an irony of history, Europe.

At 65, it is hard for people to change their ways. But if Israel is to realise the dream of its founders and become a Jewish democratic state living in harmony with its neighbours, it has no choice but to unlearn the habits of a lifetime. Amid the noise of celebrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem today, an ominous question hangs in the air. It is that of Levi Eshkol, Israel’s third prime minister, who stood before his war-hungry generals in 1967 and asked: 'Must we live forever by the sword?' …"

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