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Ten Years On

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Clive D. Field

In this post we summarize seven new pieces of research touching on inter-religious relations in Britain ten years on from the London bombings on 7 July 2005 and in the aftermath of the recent Islamist massacre of British tourists in Tunisia.

Tenth anniversary of 7/7 (1)

To mark the tenth anniversary of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London, the UK edition of the Huffington Post is running a mini-series on ‘Beyond the Bombings’. This was launched on 3 July 2015 with a feature about a poll commissioned from YouGov, for which 1,578 adult Britons were interviewed online on 23-24 June 2015.

Perhaps the most striking finding of the survey was that a majority (56%) now considers that Islam, as distinct from Islamic fundamentalist groups, poses a threat (27% major, 29% some) to Western liberal democracy. This represents an increase on the levels immediately after 9/11 in 2001 (32%) and immediately after 7/7 in 2005 (46%). The groups most antipathetic to Islam in 2015 are UKIP supporters (83%), over-60s (71%), and Conservatives (63%). Just 15% assess that Islam presents no threat at all, the under-25s being most optimistic (33%).

Moreover, as many as 15% (five points more than in 2005) agree that a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to the country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism, rising to 45% of UKIP voters and 23% of over-60s. An additional 60% think there is a dangerous minority of disaffected Muslims, even if the great majority is peaceful and law-abiding, while merely 20% overall (but 36% of under-25s) accept that practically all British Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding and deplore terror attacks carried out in the name of Islam.

The Huffington Post feature can be found at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/07/03/77-bombings-muslims-islam-britain-poll_n_7694452.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

and the full data tables, which also cover attitudes to multiculturalism and the perceived likelihood of further terror attacks on the scale of 7/7, are at:

https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/7kjmsq2f6j/HuffingtonPostResults_150624_British_Muslims_W.pdf

Tenth anniversary of 7/7 (2)

Another organization commemorating 7/7 by a new survey was British Future which released the results of its Survation poll on 2 July 2015, for which 3,977 Britons aged 18 and over had been interviewed online between 8 and 15 May 2015, including booster samples of Scottish and BME (black minority ethnic) respondents, which, inter alia, yielded a respectable unweighted number of 457 Muslims. Data tables are at:

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/British-Future-7-7-Poll-GB-Tables.pdf

The majority (54%) considered that community relations across ethnic and faith groups had deteriorated in the decade since 7/7, 19% saying they had got much worse and 35% slightly worse, with 37% perceiving no change and 9% some improvement. There was much less variation by demographic sub-groups than one might have imagined, albeit as many as 68% of UKIP voters discerned that relations had got worse.

Asked whether they thought the British public did not hold ordinary British Muslims responsible for the Islamist terrorists behind 7/7, 51% agreed, 22% disagreed, and 27% were neutral. The dissentients, i.e. those who implicitly said that the public did hold British Muslims responsible, included 36% of Muslims, just three points less than the 39% who said the public did not see them as responsible.

When the question was put in more personal terms, the majority (56%) accepted that Britain’s Muslims were opposed to the terrorist ideology behind 7/7, but 14% disagreed, with as many as 30% undecided. Those doubting Muslim opposition to terrorism included 28% of UKIP voters, 29% of those with the least positive attitude to immigration, and 27% with the least positive attitude to the European Union. Unsurprisingly, 72% of Muslims contended that their co-religionists were opposed to the ideology behind 7/7, yet even 12% of them claimed otherwise.

Tunisian massacre

The murder of 38 tourists (including 30 Britons) by an Islamist gunman in a beach resort just north of Sousse, Tunisia was the most noticed news story of last week, according to an online poll by Populus of 2,052 adult Britons on 1-2 July 2015. It was mentioned by 66% of respondents. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Combating Islamic State (1)

Three-quarters of Britons are very or fairly worried that IS may attempt a terrorist attack in Britain, and only 19% are not, according to a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times conducted online among 1,531 adults on 2-3 July 2015. Over-60s (88%) are almost twice as anxious as the under-25s (47%), while UKIP and Conservative voters are also particularly concerned (87% and 84%, respectively). A plurality (45%) does not believe the police and security services have sufficient powers to combat IS in Britain, and a majority supports giving them wider powers, for example to monitor personal communications, to extend the period of detention without charge in the case of terrorist suspects, and to reintroduce control orders.

Three-fifths agree that Britain and other Western countries should be doing more to counter IS in Iraq and Syria, including two-thirds of men, over-60s, Conservative and UKIP voters. Most Britons (57%, peaking at 71% among Conservatives) now favour extending RAF air strikes against IS to Syria, as well as Iraq, with just 21% disapproving. However, opinion is more divided about committing British and American ground troops to combat IS in either Iraq or Syria, with approximately two-fifths for and against in each case. A blog on the survey, with a link to the full data tables, can be found at:

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/07/05/most-would-approve-raf-air-strikes-syria/

There is a tracker of all YouGov polling on IS at:

https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/dl5mxnrekm/YG-Archives-Pol-Trackers-Iraq-Syria-and-ISIS-030715.pdf

Combating Islamic State (2)

Fewer than half (47%) of Britons feel that it will be possible to beat the threat posed by IS at the present time, with women (39%) being far less confident than men (56%). This is according to a poll by ICM Unlimited conducted for the Daily Mirror among an online sample of 2,001 adults on 1-3 July 2015. Although pluralities backed airstrikes against IS (48%), building up local armies to fight IS (46%), and the assassination of IS leaders (41%), there was more reluctance to commit British or other ground troops (30%). And just 32% had confidence that military action would make the region safer, 29% convinced that it would make it still more dangerous. In a follow-up survey of 2,016 adults on 3-5 July, there was also a minority holding positive views of IS, 3% being very favourable and 6% somewhat favourable toward them (against 80% being very unfavourable). In the absence of data tables in the public domain, the fullest accounts of the survey are currently to be found in two articles on the Mirror’s website at:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/isis-cannot-beaten-fear-more-6009156

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-terror-attacks-inevitable-theres-6016015

Postscript: Data tables for both surveys have now been posted at:

http://www.icmunlimited.com/data/media/pdf/2015_mirror_isis_poll-2.pdf

Anti-Semitism

The Anti-Defamation League has recently (30 June 2015) updated The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism, the first (2014) edition of which was covered by BRIN on 22 May 2014 at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2014/adl-index-of-anti-semitism/

For the update, between 10 March and 3 April 2015, Anzalone Liszt Grove Research conducted interviews, mostly by telephone, with 10,000 adults aged 18 and over in 19 countries, including Great Britain, 500 interviews in each apart from 1,000 in the United States. As in 2014, ADL created index scores by asking whether 11 negative statements about Jews were true or false, assent to at least six of them being taken as evidence of anti-Semitic sentiments. Britain, with 12%, registered the fourth lowest score of all 19 nations, after Denmark, the United States, and The Netherlands, with Turkey, Greece, and Iran being most anti-Semitic (with scores of 71%, 67%, and 60%, respectively).

Responses to the 11 statements in Britain in 2015 were as follows:

% across	True	False	Don’t know
Jews are more loyal to Israel than Britain	41	45	15
Jews still talk too much about what happened in Holocaust	26	65	9
Jews have too much power in international financial markets	22	64	14
Jews have too much power in business world	21	68	11
People hate Jews because of way Jews behave	19	72	9
Jews have too much control over US government	18	64	18
Jews don’t care what happens to anybody but their own	16	77	7
Jews have too much control over global affairs	15	76	8
Jews think they are better than other people	15	77	7
Jews have too much control over global media	12	76	12
Jews are responsible for most of world’s wars	6	88	6

As the following table of attitudes to five religious groups in Britain in 2015 reveals, Muslims are regarded in the most unfavourable light, with Jews viewed almost as positively as Christians, notwithstanding that only 27% interact with Jews very or somewhat often and 15% not at all.

Attitudes to (% across)	Favourable	Unfavourable	Unrated
Christians	87	7	6
Jews	83	7	10
Buddhists	80	5	15
Hindus	79	7	13
Muslims	62	25	13

Besides the national cross-sections, an additional 100 interviews with Muslims were carried out by telephone in areas of high Muslim concentration in each of six Western European countries, including Britain, between 23 March and 8 April 2015. The smallness of the samples should encourage caution in interpreting the results, but it can be noted that Muslims in each country were found to have a very high anti-Semitic index score relative to the national average (54% versus 12% in the case of British Muslims).

To access the press release, executive summary, and (interactively) country-by-country results for the 2015 update, follow the links at the foot of the home page of The ADL Global 100 website at:

http://global100.adl.org/

Holocaust denial

According to the ADL poll, above, Holocaust denial, in the sense of the Holocaust being regarded as a myth which did not happen, is a negligible problem: 0% took this position in Britain, while 90% asserted that, not only did the Holocaust happen, but that the number of Jews who perished as a result has been fairly described by history.

Nevertheless, Holocaust denial, which is not illegal in Britain, remains a sensitive matter for British Jews, 64% of whom believe that it should become a criminal offence, with a majority among all age cohorts, including 56% of under-35s. This is according to a Survation telephone poll for the Jewish Chronicle on 17-23 June 2015, for which 1,023 Jewish adults were interviewed. The result was briefly reported by the newspaper in the edition for 3 July 2015 at:

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/138711/two-thirds-say-they-want-denial-banned

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religious prejudice, Survey news | Tagged 7/7, Anti-Defamation League, Anti-Semitism, Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, British Future, Buddhists, Christians, community relations, Daily Mirror, Hindus, holocaust, Huffington Post, ICM Unlimited, Iraq, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Islamophobia, Jewish Chronicle, Jews, Muslims, Populus, Sunday Times, Survation, Syria, terrorism, Tunisia, YouGov | Leave a comment

Religion and Public Affairs

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Clive D. Field

Britons on Christianity in the public square

Five times as many people (73% versus 15%) think that Britain has become less of a Christian country over the past five years than dissent from the proposition, according to a ComRes poll for Christian Concern conducted among an online sample of 2,057 Britons aged 18 and over on 31 March and 1 April 2015, and published on 5 April. Notwithstanding, a plurality (47%) still considers that Britain’s Christian heritage continues to bring benefits to the country today compared with 32% who say the opposite, and a majority (55%) welcomes the fact that Easter is marked primarily as a Christian festival against 33% who view it as little more than two Bank Holidays together. There is also majority support for the rights of Christians in the workplace, with 52% believing they should be able to refuse to act against their conscience without being penalized by their employer, 66% wanting legal protection for the wearing of Christian symbols such as the cross in the workplace, and 72% deeming it wrong that health care workers should be threatened with the sack for offering to pray with patients. Unsurprisingly, Christians are much more well-disposed than religious ‘nones’ to an ongoing public profile for Christianity, albeit a minority is not, while many of the ‘nones’ also defend Christian freedoms. In terms of age, the over-65s display the most conservative views about the place of Christianity, with 18-24s adopting a more liberal position. Data tables are at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Christian_Concern___Easter_Poll___April_2015.pdf

Britons on assisted dying

The British public is overwhelmingly in favour of legalizing assisted dying within defined parameters, and there is very little difference between the views of Christians overall and the national average. This is according to the results of one of the largest ever surveys on the subject, undertaken online by Populus on behalf of campaign group Dignity in Dying on 11-19 March 2015, and released in full on 7 April. The major findings are summarized below, with detailed data tables available at:

http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Dignity-in-Dying-Poll-March-2015-WEBSITE-DATATABLES.pdf

% across	All	Christians	Non-Christians	Nones
Attitude to assisted dying becoming law
Support	82	80	68	88
Oppose	12	14	26	6
Attitude to own MP backing such a law
More positive to them	53	49	47	61
More negative to them	10	11	23	5
MPs voting on legalizing assisted dying
Should take account of constituents’ views	67	69	60	68
Should vote according to own opinion	21	22	24	20
House of Commons should allocate time after general election for full debate on assisted dying
Agree	79	80	64	81
Disagree	11	12	23	8
Would assist terminally ill loved one to die even if it meant breaking the law
Would assist	44	43	37	49
Would not assist	29	32	39	23

Unfortunately, the attitudes of followers of individual Christian denominations were not recorded, but it seems likely that, as in other studies where they have been, Roman Catholics would have been most opposed to legalizing assisted dying. In this Populus poll non-Christians were more than twice as opposed on several of the key questions asked, albeit the majority even of them endorsed assisted dying. The most supportive religious group of all were the ‘nones’, but not by a big margin. Lord Falconer of Thoroton has signalled his intention to bring back his bill to legalize assisted dying as soon as the new Parliament assembles after the general election; the bill ran out of time in the old Parliament.

Britons on Scientology

The Church of Scientology, founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, has been in the media spotlight again recently, principally as a result of its negative portrayal in Alex Gibney’s controversial new documentary Going Clear. This has prompted YouGov to test the British public’s awareness of and attitudes to the movement in an online poll of 1,906 adults on 3-4 April 2015. Knowledge is minimal, with 75% professing to know nothing or very little, 23% something, and just 2% a lot. This did not prevent 61% dismissing Scientology’s claims to being a real religion, only 8% thinking it is, rising to 14% among 18-24s and those with some knowledge of it; the remaining 31% were unable to express an opinion. Moreover, 45% found the beliefs of Scientology less credible than those of Christianity, peaking at 62% with those who knew something about it. The achievement of spiritual enlightenment is one of Scientology’s core beliefs, which a plurality of 38% considered to be probably attainable, with 30% disagreeing and 32% uncertain, although it is debatable how much this question was actually understood. The majority (54%) did not regard themselves as spiritual while 41% said they were (12% very and 29% slightly), compared with 60% and 35% respectively when YouGov last probed the matter in September 2011. However, too much should not be read into the differences as spirituality is a rather elusive concept, difficult to operationalize, with surveys on the topic yielding fluctuating results. A blog about this latest YouGov study, with a link to the data tables, was published on 8 April at:

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/04/08/scientology-not-real-religion-public/

Professing Anglicans and the general election

The Church of England has often been seen as a natural ally of the Conservative Party, and an analysis of YouGov’s aggregate polling of 35,000 electors in March 2015, commissioned by the Church Times, certainly confirms that professing Anglicans are disproportionately likely to favour the Conservatives. Whereas, as the table below shows, the Conservatives and Labour were tied nationally, on 34% each, the Conservatives had a commanding 21% lead among Anglicans. Catholics, by contrast, were more disposed to Labour (42%) than Conservatives (31%). For the Church Times report, see:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/10-april/news/uk/tories-can-count-on-the-c-of-e-voters-tell-polls

% down	All electors	Anglican electors
Conservative	34	48
Labour	34	27
Liberal Democrat	7	6
UKIP	14	16
Other parties	11	3

Practising Christians and the general election

Four-fifths of 1,960 practising (churchgoing) Christians aged 16 and over think Britain is heading in the wrong moral direction, while two-thirds believe that it is harder to be a Christian in Britain today than it was in 2010. This is according to a ComRes survey undertaken online in the UK between 13 and 17 March 2015 and published on 9 April by Premier Christian Radio, which sponsored the study, in a press release at:

http://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Election-Deficit-not-a-top-concern-for-Christians

Asked which of the leaders of the four main parties they most associated with six statements about the role of faith in politics, a majority of practising Christians ranging from 55% to 78% replied ‘none of them’, with David Cameron being the only one to shine a little (see table, below). However, even Cameron had blotted his copy-book in the eyes of respondents, with 71% denying that his time as Prime Minister had been good for Christians in Britain (and 52% saying that it had actually been bad), and 78% claiming that he had been wrong to laud the legalization of same-sex marriage as one of his proudest achievements.

Leaders of four main parties associated with … (%)	None of them	David Cameron
Places importance on own faith in political decision-making	78	12
Exhibits Christian values in political beliefs	68	20
Exhibits Christian values in personal life	66	23
Likely to build on Britain’s Christian cultural/political heritage	59	23
Encourages involvement of faith groups in politics	58	24
Committed to protecting religious freedom	55	18

The three most important of 13 named policy areas for determining the personal vote of practising Christians were: managing the NHS (42%), ensuring the benefits of economic growth are felt by all (41%), and making the welfare system fairer (33%). These are not necessarily the highest priorities of the electorate as a whole (for instance, immigration and the European Union came well down this sample’s list of concerns) nor of the main political parties. Even reducing the government budget deficit preoccupied no more than 20% of practising Christians, and promoting UK economic growth just 16%. The latter was the major policy area where practising Christians regarded the Conservatives as having a big advantage over Labour (50% versus 13%), followed by reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. Otherwise, the rating of the parties was either closer or Labour was seen as the more credible option, notably when it came to ensuring economic equality, improving housing affordability, making the welfare system fairer, managing the NHS, and caring for the elderly.

Regrettably, although full data tables for the survey are available, including breaks by age, gender, region, and denomination, they are not up to the usual ComRes standard of presentation and clarity. They can be found at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Premier-_-Election-Priority-Polling.pdf

Jews and the general election

Among electors intending to vote in the forthcoming general election, and after discounting undecideds and refusals, Jews are more than twice as likely to favour the Conservatives and far less likely to support UKIP as the population as a whole. This is according to the latest Survation telephone poll of 566 self-identifying British Jews for the Jewish Chronicle on 2-7 April 2015, compared with the same company’s national poll for the Daily Mirror on 8-9 April. A summary of voting intentions appears below, with full data tables for the Jewish survey available at:

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/General-Election-Poll-Tables.pdf

% down	Jewish electors	All electors
Conservative	69	30
Labour	22	36
Liberal Democrat	2	8
UKIP	2	15
Other parties	5	11

The pro-Conservative stance of British Jews doubtless reflects their relatively affluent status, but it also appears to be determined by perspectives on Israel and the Middle East. Almost three-quarters (73%) of Jews claimed that the views of British political parties towards Israel would be very or quite important in influencing their own vote. Three-fifths (61%) contended that the Conservatives had the best policies for Israel and the Middle East, and 65% felt that, of the party leaders, David Cameron had the best approach to these issues. A similar proportion (64%) considered that Cameron as Prime Minister would have the best attitude to the Jewish community in the UK, against only 13% for Labour’s Ed Miliband. Indeed, in its coverage of the poll (10 April 2015, pp. 1, 4, 28), the Jewish Chronicle was particularly struck by Miliband’s ‘shocking’ standing, asking how a supposedly Jewish politician could make ‘such a terrible fist of attracting Jewish voters?’

Muslims and current issues

Most British Muslims (71%) see no incompatibility between the values of British society and those of Islam, according to a telephone poll of 1,001 Muslims, conducted by Survation for Sky News from 10 to 16 March 2015, and published on 10 April. Just 16% disagreed. A majority also felt that Muslims were already doing enough to integrate into British society (64%) and that they had personally encountered no more suspicion from non-Muslims than a few years previously (62%). However, there was some ambiguity when it came to matters of terrorism. Two-fifths overall (and 46% of women) did not believe it was the responsibility of Muslims to condemn terrorist acts carried out in the name of Islam, while 28% of all Muslims (including 33% of women and 32% of under-35s) said that they had a lot or some sympathy with young Muslims who had left the UK to join fighters in Syria. A plurality (39%) agreed that the actions of the police and MI5 were contributing to the radicalization of young Muslims. Data tables, with breaks by gender, age, and region, are available at:

http://interactive.news.sky.com/2015/PDFs/Sky-Muslim-Poll.pdf

Survation also undertook an online survey of 1,000 non-Muslims, which has yet to be reported in full. A few results were mentioned in a Sky News press release, two being polar opposites of the Muslim voice, with 58% of non-Muslims considering that Muslims were not doing enough to integrate into British society and 52% that the values of British society and Islam were incompatible. The press release is at:

http://news.sky.com/story/1462023/poll-majority-have-no-sympathy-with-extremists

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged Anglicans, assisted dying, Christian Concern, Christian country, Christianity, Christians, Church of England, Church Times, ComRes, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Dignity in Dying, Easter, Ed Miliband, general election, Islam, Israel, Jewish Chronicle, Jews, Labour Party, Muslims, non-Muslims, party leaders, politics, Populus, Premier Christian Radio, religious freedom, Scientology, Sky News, spiritual enlightenment, Survation, terrorism, voting, workplace, YouGov | 1 Comment

Round-Up of Islamic State and Other Surveys

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Islamic State

There has been a further round of polling in recent days related to the advances of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, as summarized below, by chronological order of fieldwork. Unless otherwise stated, surveys were conducted online and among representative samples of Britons aged 18 and over.

August 2014

OnePoll reported on 29 August 2014, on the basis of 1,000 interviews, that the most popular option for resolving the IS crisis was ‘encourage peaceful negotiation’ (29%), with ‘military action – we should launch air strikes’ a close second on 27%. The proportion in facour of air strikes was higher among professing Christians (32%) than atheists (24%), although the number in both sub-groups recommending military action in the form of deploying ground troops against IS was similar (13% and 12% respectively). The survey covered knowledge of, and attitudes to, a range of current international conflicts, revealing a significant lack of understanding (including the 13% of respondents who identified the Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as a terrorist organization). As so often with OnePoll studies, there is only a blog post available online, published at:

http://www.onepoll.com/13-of-brits-think-sharm-el-sheikh-the-popular-egyptian-holiday-destination-is-a-terrorist-group/

20-22 August 2014

ComRes, commissioned by the Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday, reported 55% of 2,058 Britons in agreement with the suggestion that, if IS continued unchecked in Iraq, it would pose a direct threat to security on British streets; just 14% disagreed with 31% undecided. However, there was no consensus that the emergence of IS demonstrated that Britain had withdrawn from Iraq prematurely: 26% agreed, 39% disagreed, and 36% could not say. Data tables are at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/SM_IoS_Political_Poll_24th_August_2014_12371.pdf

22-25 August 2014

ComRes, for ITV News, asked 2,062 Britons how the British government should respond to IS, taking into account the level of military action necessary to achieve a particular outcome. One-third (35%) thought that we should seek to defeat IS in its entirety, a big jump on the 20% recorded in the pollster’s previous survey of 15-17 August, with 23% wishing to see us concentrate on preventing IS from making further gains (29% in the earlier study). Just over one-fifth (22%) argued that Britain should not become involved, 8% down on the week before. These answers were not wholly consistent with those to another question, which asked whether the government should concentrate its efforts on preventing radicalization of Muslims in the UK, rather than engaging in Iraq and Syria, a strategy with which 58% agreed. Overwhelmingly (71%), respondents considered that people using social media to promote IS should have their accounts suspended, with only 10% dissenting, with 75% concurring that social media websites should hand over to the government the personal details of anybody using their account to organize IS activity. Data tables are at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/ITV_News_Index_26th_August_2014.pdf

28-29 August 2014

YouGov’s latest weekly poll for the Sunday Times largely replicated questions about IS and Iraq asked on 21-22 August 2014, and sometimes in earlier surveys. Opinion was found to have remained constant over the week, with 77% approving of the RAF dropping humanitarian supplies to people fleeing IS, 43% of air strikes by the RAF against IS (more specifically, 37% against IS targets in Syria), 37% of supplying arms to Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting IS, and 29% of sending British troops to help train such forces. Strong support remained for stripping Britons fighting alongside IS of their citizenship, in cases where they held dual nationality or had been naturalized (78%), and of changing the law to allow citizenship to be withdrawn from birth Britons (67%). Overwhelmingly (86%), Britons who had fought for Islamist groups abroad were deemed to pose a threat to the country on their return, while 79% held that their Islamist involvements had increased the risk of major terrorist attacks taking place in Britain. Four-fifths wished to see the prosecution of British citizens travelling to Iraq or Syria, the presumption for many respondents being that they must have gone to fight for IS, unless they could prove otherwise. Data tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/frletj5cgx/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140829.pdf

29-31 August 2014

Telephone interviews with 1,001 adults by ComRes for The Independent revealed continuing minority support for direct British military involvement in the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria, 35% endorsing RAF air strikes (with 50% disagreement) and 20% the commitment of British ground forces (with 69% opposed). A majority (61% versus 29%) thought that Britons suspected of joining IS should have their passports taken away and be stripped of their citizenship, albeit fewer (39%) considered that Britons travelling to Iraq and Syria should be presumed to be terrorists until they could be proved innocent. Data tables are at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/The_Independent_Political_Poll_2nd_September_2014.pdf

3 September 2014

The deteriorating situation in Iraq and Syria, including an apparent beheading by IS of a second American citizen and a threat of a similar fate to a British hostage, is slowly increasing public support for RAF air strikes against IS. Based on a fairly small sample of 703 adults, by YouGov for The Sun, the figure now stands at 47%, ten points up on 10-11 August (when the question was first asked by YouGov), with 31% disapproval and 22% undecided. Support for Britain supplying arms to Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting IS has also increased, from 28% on 11-12 August to 39% on 3 September, with 37% opposed and 24% uncertain. However, there was no greater enthusiasm than in previous polls for Britain and the USA deploying ground troops in Iraq to combat IS (with 20% in favour and 58% against, the same split as on 14-15 August). Data tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ozg4t2h6kv/SunResults_140903_Islamic_State_ISIS_W.pdf

A tracker of YouGov’s recent polling on Iraq and IS is at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/ogulv37v9d/YG-Archives-Pol-Trackers-Iraq-IS-Conflict-030914.pdf

Scottish religion

Further evidence that religion is on the wane in Scotland is provided by two new data sources from the Scottish Government.

The proportion of adult Scots who profess no religion stood at 46% in 2013, up by six points since 2009, according to the report and tables from the 2013 Scottish Household Survey, published on 13 August 2014, for which 9,920 individuals were interviewed. There was a corresponding fall over the same period in allegiance to the Church of Scotland, from 34% to 28%, while the number of Roman Catholics remained unchanged, at 15%. Respondents were also asked about their experience of discrimination and harassment. Discrimination was reported by 7% of all Scots but by 10% of Catholics and Christians other than Church of Scotland, and by 21% of non-Christians. For harassment the national average was 6% but 14% among non-Christians. Further information is contained in tables 2.2, 4.18, and 4.19 and in figure 2.1 at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/08/7973/downloads

The majority of marriages in Scotland in 2013 were solemnized in civil ceremonies, as they have been in every year since 2005. The proportion now stands at three times the level it did in 1946-50. The principal reason why ‘religious’ weddings remain reasonably common, at 49% in 2013, is that the total is inflated by those conducted by humanist and other ‘non-religious’ celebrants, a practice which is legal in Scotland, but not yet in England and Wales. Indeed, representatives of the Humanist Society of Scotland alone officiated at 3,185 marriages in Scotland in 2013, not far short of the 4,616 celebrated by Church of Scotland ministers. If humanist and other belief weddings are excluded, then the proportion which might be considered ‘religious’, on a more conventional definition of organized religion, is reduced to 37%, the equivalent figure in 1946-50 being 83%. The fall in religious marriages has been absolute as well as relative. Whereas in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War there were an average of 35,700 per annum, there were just 10,300 in 2013, on a like-for-like basis. Weddings conducted in the Kirk have more than halved in the decade 2003-13. Details are provided in Vital Events Reference Tables 7.5, 7.6, and 7.7, published by the General Register Office for Scotland on 14 August 2014 at:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/general/ref-tables/2013/section-7-marriages-and-civil-partnerships.html

Trust in religious institutions

Surveys have consistently demonstrated that the under-25s are the least religious of all age groups, regardless of the measure of religiosity which is used. New research from Survation for Sky News, based on 1,004 online interviews with Britons aged 16-24 on 21-26 August 2014, has now revealed that they also tend to mistrust religious institutions, relative to other national institutions. The question asked was: ‘which of the following institutions do you trust to address your concerns/needs?’ Topline results are summarized in the table below. Distrust in religious institutions was especially high among prospective UKIP voters and residents of Wales, Scotland, and Southern England outside London (the capital itself recording 43% trust). For more detail, see tables 42-49 at:

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Sky-Youth-Poll-Tables.pdf

%	Trust	Not trust
National Health Service	78	22
Police	66	34
Social services	53	47
Local authorities	52	48
Judiciary	42	58
Government/Parliament	31	69
Religious institutions	31	69
Mainstream media	18	82

Posted in Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged British citizenship, ComRes, discrimination, Independent on Sunday, Iraq, Islamic State, Islamism, ITV News, marriages, Muslims, OnePoll, Religious Affiliation, religious institutions, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Household Survey, Sky News, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Times, Survation, Syria, terrorism, The Independent, trust, YouGov | Leave a comment

National Well-Being and Other News

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Today’s round-up features another poll on attitudes to Islamism post-Woolwich, in continuation of last Sunday’s blog entry. However, our lead story reports new data which contribute to the ongoing debate about whether religion promotes physical and mental well-being.

National well-being

Religious affiliation helps explain variances in personal well-being in the UK, but its unique contribution is small (in the case of things done in life being perceived as worthwhile and feeling of happiness yesterday) or very small (for satisfaction with life nowadays and feeling of anxiety yesterday), albeit it is still statistically significant. Self-reported health consistently makes the largest difference across all four indicators of well-being, measured on a scale from 0 to 10.

This is according to a report published by the Office for National Statistics on 30 May 2013, and based on regression analysis of the Annual Population Survey from April 2011 to March 2012, for which 165,000 adults aged 16 and over were interviewed. Sebnem Oguz, Salah Merad, and Dawn Snape, Measuring National Well-Being: What Matters Most to Personal Well-Being? can be found at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_312125.pdf

and the regression tables at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-307881

To quote the report (p. 16), ‘other things being equal, respondents who said that they have a religious affiliation rate their levels of “happiness yesterday”, “life satisfaction”, and “worthwhile” higher on average than people who said they do not have a religious affiliation. Specifically, those with a religious affiliation rate their “life satisfaction” 0.1 points higher, “worthwhile” 0.2 points higher, and “happiness yesterday” 0.2 points higher on average than those who do not have a religious affiliation. All these differences would be considered small. There is also a very small … difference between the two groups in ratings for “anxiety yesterday”. Those with a religious affiliation give higher ratings for their anxiety levels.’

The individual coefficients for those reporting any religious affiliation were: ‘life satisfaction’ 0.132; ‘worthwhile’ 0.206; ‘happiness yesterday’ 0.169; and ‘anxiety yesterday’ 0.067. The authors concede that religious affiliation is but one test of religiosity and that their analysis ‘can only be considered a first look at the well-being of those who say that they have a religion compared to those who do not’. They also acknowledge that previous studies have been somewhat inconclusive about the relationship between faith and well-being, some revealing a positive and others a negative impact.

Curbing Muslim radicals

A majority of the British public supports curbs on disseminating the views of Muslim radicals in the wake of the brutal murder on the streets of Woolwich on 22 May of Drummer Lee Rigby at the hands of two alleged Islamist terrorists. This is according to a YouGov poll published today and commissioned by The Sunday Times. The sample comprised 1,879 adults aged 18 and over interviewed online on 30 and 31 May 2013, and the data tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/rj6l6hgo07/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-310513.pdf

Most Britons (53%) were critical of the BBC for interviewing, and thus giving a platform to, Anjem Choudary on ‘Newsnight’ following the Woolwich murder. Choudary holds radical views and is the former spokesperson of al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK, both of which organizations are now banned. Especially critical of the BBC were Conservative and UKIP voters (69% and 72% respectively) and the over-60s (66%). About one-third (32%) defended the BBC on the grounds that all views should be aired and the broadcast had afforded an opportunity to hold Choudary to account; Liberal Democrats (53%) particularly took this line.

Still more (59%, including 76% of Conservatives, 81% of UKIP supporters, and 72% of over-60s) supported a legal ban on named Muslim radicals, such as Choudary, appearing on television or radio, with 24% opposed (most notably Liberal Democrats on 48%). However, a plurality (49%) thought such a ban would be ineffective in preventing their message reaching people who might be radicalized by them, with 38% arguing that it would be effective (Conservatives being most optimistic, on 52%).

Opinion was even more strongly in favour of important internet sites such as Google and Youtube refusing to host or link to videos and websites encouraging extremist views. Three-quarters (76%, rising to 89% of over-60s) agreed with this suggestion, with only 11% against. Moreover, a majority (57%) believed that such refusal by the likes of Google and Youtube would be effective at stopping the message of the Muslim radicals, including just over two-thirds of Conservatives, UKIP voters, and the over-60s, with 30% disagreeing.

On the other hand, 56% (and 65% of Liberal Democrats) considered that banning extremist Muslim preachers from broadcast and online media would not in practice help the fight against terrorism, even if it did make us feel better. Against this were 36% who contended that a ban would reduce exposure to radical messages, UKIP voters (46%) and Conservatives and the over-60s (44% each) being most confident.

The number thinking that ‘a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to this country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism’ was two points more than a week ago (16% versus 14%, with 32% for UKIP supporters). However, the prevailing opinion (60%) in both surveys was that the great majority of Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding with a dangerous minority being alienated.

Books, Bible, and Twitter

New research commissioned and partly released by the Bible Society on 31 May 2013 compares and contrasts the attitudes and practices of Christians (regular lay churchgoers and church leaders) and the general population with regard to books, the Bible, and social media. Two online surveys were conducted: one by Christian Research of 2,294 UK Christians (disproportionately Protestants and church leaders) between 26 April and 3 May 2013; the other by ComRes of 1,935 English and Welsh adults aged 18 and over between 26 and 28 March 2013. The Bible Society’s press release and the Christian Research and ComRes tables will be found respectively at:

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/new-research-reveals-digital-reading-habits/

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/uploads/content/news/files/Resonate-social-media-research-results.pdf

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Bible_Society_Social_Media_Final__May_2013.pdf

Only 1% of Christians confessed that they never read a book in their own time against 7% of adults as a whole (and 10% of those professing no religion, perhaps reflecting their younger age profile). Christians were simultaneously more likely than adults to prefer reading a physical book (79% versus 69%) and to favour using an e-reader (16% versus 14%). As for all adults, the preference of Christians for the physical book steadily increased with age, reaching 91% for the over-75s. Christians preferred the artefact still more (83%) when it came to reading the Bible on their own, compared with 17% who opted for an e-version of the scriptures.

The same proportion (28%) of both churchgoing Christians and the whole population confessed to ignorance about Twitter, albeit there was a gap of 6% between those professing some religion (31%) and none (25%). Churchgoers (47%) were more likely than all adults (32%) to view Twitter as a mixed blessing, at once holding the power to do tremendous good and inflict immense damage, but they were less likely to condemn it as egocentric and destructive of human relationships (9% against 12%) or to dismiss it as a passing trend (7% against 14%). The remaining 8% of practising Christians rated Twitter a great innovation and builder of dialogue and community (all adults 14%).

Bible questions were only reported for the English and Welsh national sample, buried in the cross-breaks. The majority (54%) of respondents admitted to never reading the Bible privately outside a church context, with 9% claiming to read it at least monthly and 7% at least weekly. Three-tenths appeared to entertain negative or neutral opinions of the Bible, 26% describing it as a credal document, 19% as a cultural asset, and 17% as inspiration-led.

Margaret Thatcher’s funeral

Baroness Thatcher’s funeral service at St Paul’s Cathedral on 17 April 2013 was the third most-requested live television programme on the BBC iPlayer since the latter launched on 25 December 2007. It attracted 832,280 live-stream requests, compared with 1,013,036 such requests for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and 958,681 for day 11 coverage of the Games. A further 163,000 people requested the funeral service as a catch-up rather than live. According to the BBC, one reason the funeral was so popular as a real-time experience was because it took place during mid-week when many viewers were likely to have watched it on their work computers.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Anjem Choudary, Annual Population Survey, BBC, Bible, Bible Society, books, Christian Research, churchgoers, ComRes, Dawn Snape, funeral service, Google, internet, iPlayer, Islamism, Islamophobia, Margaret Thatcher, Muslims, Office for National Statistics, radical preachers, radicalism, Resonate, Salah Merad, Sebnem Oguz, social media, St Paul's Cathedral, Sunday Times, television, terrorism, Twitter, well-being, YouGov, Youtube | Leave a comment

Islamophobia Post-Woolwich

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Muslims in Britain are in the public opinion spotlight again following Wednesday’s brutal murder on the streets of Woolwich of Drummer Lee Rigby at the hands of two alleged Islamist terrorists. Post-event attitudes are explored in a YouGov poll published in two sections today, and conducted online among a representative sample of 1,839 Britons aged 18 and over on 23 and 24 May 2013. The poll included questions asked on behalf of The Sunday Times and Matthew Goodwin of the University of Nottingham.

The Sunday Times survey replicated one of the questions posed in the immediate aftermath of the London bombings of 7 July 2005. Then YouGov found that 10% believed that ‘a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to this country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism’. The proportion now stands at 14%, peaking at 36% of UKIP supporters, with 19% among manual workers and residents of northern England; and 16% among men, the over-40s, and Londoners. Most Britons (60%) consider that the great majority of British Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding but that there is a dangerous and disloyal minority predisposed to terrorism, while 20% argue that practically all British Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding who deplore Rigby’s murder as much as everyone else. However, fully one-half of respondents feel that a significant number of the leaders of Britain’s Muslim communities are turning a blind eye to terrorism, rising to 81% of UKIP voters and 61% of the over-60s, and only 28% concede that they are doing their best to fight it (Liberal Democrats being most optimistic on 46%). The data tables are available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/pdc1opqf1w/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-240513.pdf

Goodwin replicated questions which he had asked in an earlier poll, in this case in November 2012, and focusing on violent conflict and the English Defence League (EDL), as well as on attitudes to Muslims. The number of Britons anticipating a ‘clash of civilizations’ between British Muslims and native white Britons increased by 9% over the six months, from 50% to 59%, now being highest among UKIP supporters (86%) and the over-60s (70%); those in disagreement fell from 26% to 21%. 5% more (48% versus 43%) concur that differences in culture and values make future conflict between British-born Muslims and white Britons inevitable (UKIP 77%, over-60s 57%), the optimists being 3% fewer (25% against 28% previously). The proportion contending that British Muslims pose a serious threat to democracy rose from 30% to 34% (and to 72% of UKIP voters and 47% of the over-60s), with dissentients reduced from 41% to 37%. Those believing that British Muslims are part of an international plot to abolish Parliament grew from 12% to 17%, albeit 53% refute the suggestion.

At the same time, opinion was more stable as to whether Muslims overall are good British citizens (62% agreeing in November and 63% today, with just 12% taking the contrary line); whether they make an important contribution to British society (41% then, 40% now, with 23% disagreeing); whether they share the culture and values of the majority society (36% then, 38% now, with 31% disagreeing and 24% neutral on each occasion); and whether their influence in the media constitutes a threat to free speech (44% then, 45% now, with 32% and 30% disagreeing). Paradoxically, there was a decrease of 8% in Britons considering Muslims to be incompatible with the British way of life, from 48% to 40%, albeit a majority of UKIP voters (73%) and over-60s (52%) subscribe to this position; there was a corresponding increase, from 24% to 33%, in those arguing that Muslims are compatible with the British way of life. Only one-fifth say they would endorse planned demonstrations against ‘Muslim terror’ in the aftermath of Woolwich, with 51% negative towards such protests in general and 60% towards demonstrations organized by the EDL and British National Party.

Goodwin’s own interpretation of the data, reflected in quotations in Daniel Boffey’s coverage of the poll on yesterday’s The Guardian website and in Goodwin’s commentary in today’s edition of The Observer, is reasonably hopeful about public attitudes to Muslims: ‘in the aftermath of events that could well have triggered a more serious backlash, the direction of travel remains positive and suggests that there has not been a sharp increase in prejudice’. Goodwin further highlights that negativity is concentrated among the over-60s, with 18-24s most tolerant; and that Britons overwhelmingly reject the EDL’s ‘toxic brand of politics’. His commentary can be read at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/26/public-attitude-muslims-complex-positive

The data tables are on the YouGov website at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/fbvrufy6ra/Dr-Matthew-Goodwin-University-of-Nottingham-YouGov-Survey-Results-Extremism-In-Britain-130526.pdf

A further post-Woolwich poll was undertaken by Survation for the Mail on Sunday on 24 May 2013, in which 1,121 Britons aged 18 and over were interviewed online. It included a couple of questions touching on Islam. One asked whether people who express extreme Islamic views, such as Anjem Choudary (former leader of the now banned al-Muhajiroun group), should be allowed to appear on television news programmes or not. In reply, 59% affirmed that such individuals should not be given this kind of news platform, including 70% of over-55s and Conservative voters, and 73% of UKIP backers; 30% favoured their appearance on television news, with 10% undecided. The second question enquired whether organizations holding extreme anti-Islamic views, such as the EDL, should be given airspace on television news; 49% were against such media coverage (66% of Conservatives), 38% in favour (53% of UKIP supporters), and 13% uncertain. Data tables can be found at:

http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Woolwich-Full-Report.pdf

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Anjem Choudary, English Defence League, Islamism, Islamophobia, Lee Rigby, Mail on Sunday, Matthew Goodwin, Muslims, prejudice, Sunday Times, Survation, television news, terrorism, The Observer, Woolwich, YouGov | 1 Comment

Assisted Dying and Other News

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Assisted dying heads the list of five religious statistical news stories today, rounding off BRIN’s coverage of the exclusive YouGov survey on religion and personal morality commissioned to inform the 2013 Westminster Faith Debates.

Assisted dying

The British public overwhelmingly (70%, with just 16% in disagreement) favours a change in the law to enable persons with incurable diseases to have the right to ask close friends or relatives to help them commit suicide, and without those friends or relatives running the risk of prosecution (as is currently the case). Moreover, while those who profess no religion are especially likely (81% versus 9%) to support reform, even people of faith back it overall (64% versus 21%), with the conspicuous exception of Muslims, who take the contrary line (by 55% to 26%). A plurality (49%, with 36% against) of individuals who actively participate in a religious group also wants to see the law amended. Not until we reach the ‘strict believers’ – the 9% of the population who take their authority in life from religious sources, who certainly believe in God, and who actively participate in a religious group – is there a religious core hostile to legalizing assisted dying and thus in tune with the teaching of many mainstream faiths and denominations. These believers’ motivations are that ‘human life is sacred’ (80%) and/or ‘death should take its natural course’ (69%).

These are some of the headlines from the sixth and final instalment of the YouGov poll commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead in connection with the 2013 series of Westminster Faith Debates, which conclude today with a discussion of ‘Should We Legislate to Permit Assisted Dying?’ The poll was undertaken through online interviews with 4,437 Britons aged 18 and over between 25 and 30 January 2013. The detailed computer tables for the assisted dying module, including the two questions exploring the reasons for supporting or opposing a change in the law, have been posted at:

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/qsaixtu2j4/YG-Archive-University-of-Lancaster-300113-faith-matters-euthanasia.pdf

The press release for these results is at:

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/events/programme_events/show/press_release_westminster_faith_debate_6_should_we_legislate_to_permit_assisted_dying

A consolidated list of media coverage for all six debates in the series is at:

http://religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates-2013/media_coverage

Assisted dying has been a contested matter for decades. The campaign organization now known as Dignity in Dying was founded as the Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society as far back as 1935. Soon afterwards, in 1937, Gallup conducted the first opinion poll on the subject, asking its sample whether ‘doctors should be given power to end the life of a person incurably ill’, and finding that 69% thought that they should. The proportion in favour of physician-assisted suicide has grown since, hovering around four-fifths in six British Social Attitudes Surveys from 1983 to 2008; in 2008 it stood at 82% (90% for those of no religion, 85% for Anglicans, 75% for Catholics, 70% for other Christians, and 63% for non-Christians). Endorsement of non-doctor-assisted suicide has run at a somewhat lower but still high level; a question worded not dissimilarly to that in the Westminster Faith Debates poll, asking about a change in the law to enable friends and relatives to assist in a suicide, was posed by YouGov on five occasions between 2008 and 2012, recording majorities for legislative reform of between 68% and 74%. However, it should be noted that the public is less approving of suicide in instances where an incurable disease does not exist; indeed, in the most recent (January 2013) Angus Reid poll only 29% of Britons deemed suicide in general to be morally acceptable.

Lent, 2013

No, there is nothing wrong with BRIN’s ecclesiastical clock; we know that Lent is long past! It is just that, after Easter this year, on 10 April, Opinium put out a press release about two online surveys of UK adults aged 18 and over which it had undertaken on behalf of the charity Street Kids International, and in connection with the latter’s ‘Give it Up for a Day’ campaign to coincide with the International Day for Street Children on 12 April. Thanks to the generosity of both Opinium and Street Kids, BRIN has been given access to both topline and detailed data from these surveys, and we are able to share some highlights from them with our constituency.

The first survey was completed by 2,021 adults and conducted between 12 and 15 February 2013, broadly coinciding with the start of Lent (13 February). Asked whether they had any plans to give anything up for Lent, 11% said yes, ranging from 14% of women to 8% of men, and from 17% of the 18-34s to 8% of the over-55s. Three-fifths of these prospective abstainers anticipated that they would sustain their sacrifice throughout the whole of Lent (66% of females and 72% of the 35-54s). Four-fifths (79%) had no intentions of giving anything up, with 65% of them attributing this to the fact that they did not celebrate Lent or were not religious; 29% could see no purpose in Lent, 10% confessed they could not be bothered, and 6% blamed a lack of willpower. 72% of the non-abstainers thought that they might manage to give up something for one day instead (which was the driver behind the Street Kids campaign). One in ten of all respondents admitted to being uncertain about their Lenten observance.

The second survey, in which 2,006 adults were interviewed, took place between 2 and 4 April 2013, immediately after the conclusion of Lent. A similar number to the first survey (10%) claimed that they had tried to give something up for Lent, peaking at 12% of women, 15% of the 18-34s, and 16% of Londoners, while 89% acknowledged that they had not. The top forfeits were very much the ‘traditional’ ones: eating chocolate (32% of the abstainers), drinking alcohol (19%), eating crisps (18%), eating sweets (16%), swearing (12%), drinking fizzy drinks (10%), and smoking (10%). By contrast, virtually nobody could bear to be parted from the technological trappings of modern life, such as television, mobile phones, social media, internet shopping, computer games, or Ipod music. Fewer than half (47%) of the abstainers had kept up their sacrifice throughout the whole of Lent, with the Welsh (69%) and Scots (62%) having the most staying power; at the other end of the spectrum, 31% had lasted seven days or less. Lack of willpower (30%), the temptation of a special occasion (19%), stress (19%), and forgetfulness (18%) were the most commonly cited reasons for caving in early.

Church music

The current state of, in particular, Anglican church music is partially illuminated in the results of a survey undertaken by the Royal School of Church Music and published on 20 April 2013 in connection with the conference ‘Church Music: Sound Ministry?’ held at Canterbury Christ Church University. The survey was open during a three-week period in March 2013, for completion either online or by post, and the 205 respondents were entirely self-selecting. They were also disproportionately from the UK, Anglican, and from churches’ music departments (meaning that they probably reflect the views of larger churches, which can afford to sustain such departments). The research must therefore be considered as illustrative rather than statistically representative. The principal question topic concerned the demand for music genres outside the ‘usual repertoire’ of churches, notably the spread of pre-recorded music at services, including the rites of passage, with pop, classical, and other secular music recordings being prevalent at weddings and funerals. One-quarter of respondents reported that their church had refused to perform or provide some requested music on the grounds that it was inappropriate. A summary of the survey, prepared by Stuart Robinson, is at:

http://www.rscm.com/assets/info_resources/SurveyReport.pdf

Prejudice against groups

Muslims are perceived to be the religious or ethnic group likely to experience most prejudice in Britain today, according to an online survey by Britain Thinks on behalf of British Future think tank, in which 2,032 adults aged 18 and over were interviewed on 16 and 17 March 2013. Topline results were published on 21 April in the appendix to Sunder Katwala, The Integration Consensus, 1993-2013: How Britain Changed Since Stephen Lawrence, which is available at:

http://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/BRFJ726-Integration-Consensus_v8.pdf

Muslims were deemed to experience ‘a lot’ of prejudice by 54% of Britons, compared with 29% who said the same about Asians, 27% about white (Eastern) Europeans, 24% about blacks, 17% about Hindus, 17% about Sikhs, 14% about Jews, 11% about white British, 11% about Christians, 9% about people of mixed race, and 5% about atheists. Only 7% of the sample considered that Muslims suffered ‘hardly any’ prejudice, whereas for Hindus and Sikhs it was 23%, for Jews 28%, for Christians 50%, and for atheists 60%. These trends are broadly in line with previous poll evidence, including the widespread acceptability of atheism.

Abu Qatada

The British public generally shares the frustration of Home Secretary Theresa May and Prime Minister David Cameron about the current legal impasse with regard to the deportation to his native Jordan of Abu Qatada al-Filistini, the radical Muslim cleric given asylum in Britain in 1994 but who has since been implicated in Islamist terrorism, albeit he has not been convicted of any offences in the UK. A British court ruled in 2005 that Abu Qatada should be deported, but so far he has been able to block this in the British and European courts on the grounds that he would not receive a fair trial in Jordan as evidence obtained from torture might be used against him, despite new treaty guarantees from the Jordanian authorities that this would not be the case.

Although 51% of Britons agree that it would not be acceptable for evidence obtained by torture to be used against Abu Qatada (compared with 28% who say the opposite), far fewer (25%) argue that he should not be deported until the British Government is satisfied that the new treaty categorically ensures that evidence from torture will not be deployed. A clear majority (61%) wants Britain to deport Abu Qatada regardless of legal challenges and of what subsequently happens to him in Jordan; this view is strongly held by UKIP (90%) and Conservative (74%) supporters and by the over-60s (73%). Moreover, as many as 52% favour Britain’s temporary withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to be able to deport Abu Qatada, with 30% opposing this step (rising to 59% of Liberal Democrats) and 18% undecided.

These findings derive from a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times, conducted online on 25 and 26 April 2013 among a sample of 1,898 Britons aged 18 and over. Data tables appear on pp. 12-13 at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/lhnabrjag7/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-260413.pdf

BRIN’s coverage of previous YouGov/Sunday Times polls relating to the Abu Qatada case can be found at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/theresa-mays-bad-hair-day/

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/abu-qatada/

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged abstinence, Abu Qatada al-Filistini, assisted dying, atheists, Britain Thinks, British Future, Christians, church music, deportation, European Convention on Human Rights, euthanasia, Hindus, Islamism, Islamophobia, Jews, Jordan, legislation, Lent, Linda Woodhead, Muslims, Opinium, pre-recorded music, prejudice, religious festivals, Royal School of Church Music, Sikhs, Street Kids International, Stuart Robinson, Sunday Times, Sunder Katwala, terrorism, Westminster Faith Debates, YouGov | 1 Comment

Religion and Voting and Other News

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Four stories are covered in today’s BRIN post, including new data on religion and prospective voting behaviour.

Religion and voting

Two new large-scale polls (from YouGov and Populus) shed light on the relationship between religion and voting intentions since UKIP’s emergence as the fourth force in British politics (so clearly demonstrated in the recent Eastleigh by-election). The studies show that prospective voters for the two parties towards the right of the political spectrum (Conservative and UKIP) are more likely to espouse a religion than those towards the left (Labour and Liberal Democrat). Summary results are set out in the table below, percentages reading downwards.

	All	Con	Lab	LibDem	UKIP
YouGov
No religion	46	40	46	NA	39
Any religion	50	56	50	NA	59
No answer	4	4	4	NA	2
Populus
No religion	36	28	36	36	31
Any religion	62	71	62	62	68
No answer	2	2	2	2	1

It should be noted that the polls used different measures of religious affiliation, which explains why people of faith were less numerous in one than the other. The YouGov question wording is fairly neutral, making no assumptions about religious affiliation, whereas the Populus one might be considered to be somewhat leading, implying some expectation that respondents will belong to one of the religious groups.

The religious category was sub-divided in the Populus survey, enabling an assessment of the current voting intentions of adherents of the major faiths. The single most striking finding is that the majority (58%) of Muslims now incline to follow Labour, contrasting with the 2010 general election in which around one-third (36%) of Muslims recalled that they had actually voted for Labour, at a time when the party (then in government) was unpopular with Muslims because (especially) of its perceived anti-Islamic foreign policy. Also notable is that 54% of Jews support either the Conservatives or UKIP. Details are below (percentages reading across in this instance):

	Con	Lab	LibDem	UKIP	Other/none
Populus
No religion	18	29	7	7	39
Christian	27	28	6	10	29
Non-Christian	16	36	9	6	33
Muslim	8	58	8	1	25
Hindu	20	39	11	1	29
Jew	42	16	4	12	26
Buddhist	9	27	16	6	42

Source: Online surveys of adult Britons aged 18 and over conducted by a) YouGov throughout February 2013 (n = 28,944), the religious affiliation question being ‘do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?’; and b) Populus for Lord Ashcroft on 22-31 January 2013 (n = 20,022), the religious affiliation question being ‘which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member of?’

The YouGov data were published on 5 March 2013 and are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/mse55iouje/UKIP-profile-Feb-2103.pdf

The Populus/Ashcroft data were published on 8 March 2013 and can be found in table 100 at:

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/LibDem_Poll.pdf

Attitudes to Muslims

British Muslims continue to have a major public image problem, according to two recent polls commissioned by Matthew Goodwin of the University of Nottingham in connection with his Chatham House briefing paper on the English Defence League (EDL). This was published on 6 March 2013 as: The Roots of Extremism: The English Defence League and the Counter-Jihad Challenge.

In the second of Goodwin’s surveys, the proportion of all adult Britons responding to various statements about Muslims was as follows:

50% anticipated there will be a ‘clash of civilizations’ between British Muslims and native white Britons (26% disagreeing)
44% agreed that free speech in Britain is threatened by the influence of Muslims in the media (32% disagreeing)
43% agreed that differences in culture and values make future conflict between British-born Muslims and white Britons inevitable (28% disagreeing)
31% disagreed that British-born Muslims generally share the culture and values of the majority society (36% agreeing)
30% agreed that British Muslims pose a serious threat to democracy (41% disagreeing)
23% disagreed that Muslims make an important contribution to British society (41% agreeing)
12% disagreed that the vast majority of Muslims are good British citizens (62% agreeing)
12% agreed that British Muslims are part of an international plot to abolish Parliament (54% disagreeing)

Source: Online survey by YouGov of 1,691 Britons aged 18 and over on 20-21 November 2012. Detailed table (with breaks by gender, age, social grade, region, and vote) available at:

http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Europe/0313bp_goodwin_dataconflict.pdf

The first poll, likewise by YouGov and conducted online on 21-22 October 2012 among a sample of 1,666 Britons, focused on knowledge of and attitudes to the EDL. But it also posed several additional questions about Islam and Muslims, four of which are worth highlighting:

63% wanted the number of Muslims coming to Britain to be reduced
57% considered Islam to present a serious danger to Western civilization
52% believed higher Muslim birth rates threaten British national identity
48% argued that Muslims are incompatible with the British way of life

The detailed tables from this poll are available as follows:

a) breaks by general demographics:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/nvm151779n/YG-Archive-221012-EDL-National-sample.pdf

b) breaks by general demographics and degree of support for the EDL:

http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Europe/0313bp_goodwin_dataissues.pdf

Goodwin’s Chatham House paper is at:

http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Europe/0313bp_goodwin.pdf

Islamist terrorism

Britons are somewhat less apprehensive about the threat of terrorism than they were in 2010, on the fifth anniversary of the London bombings. Even so, 44% currently think that a terrorist attack within the UK is very or moderately likely to happen in the next year, while 70% anticipate an incident as deadly as the 2005 London bombings occurring during their lifetimes. The source of the threat is most widely perceived to be al-Qaeda and ‘other Islamic-based terrorist groups’, with 68% currently concerned about them compared with 3% for residual terrorist groups in Northern Ireland. Anxiety about Islamist terrorism builds steadily with age, from 50% of the 18-34s to 81% of the over-55s, but otherwise varies little by key demographics.

Source: Online survey by Angus Reid Public Opinion among 2,013 Britons aged 18 and over on 26-28 February 2013. Report and full data tables published on 4 March 2013 and available at:

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/48686/fears-of-an-imminent-terrorist-attack-subside-in-britain/

Flesh and blood

Regular churchgoers in the UK are more likely to have given blood than the general public, according to new research. Whereas 9% of the former say they have given blood during the last year, no more than 4% of all adults have given blood in the past two years. Moreover, 33% of regular churchgoers claim to have registered as a blood donor (apparently with no statistically significant differences by denomination, gender, or age); while 48% report they have joined the NHS organ donor register, which is 17% more than in the population as a whole. Blood and organ donation is already considered as part of their personal Christian giving by 28% (rising to 35% of clergy and church leaders), with a further 42% being open to the idea. However, as experienced by these worshippers, three-quarters of churches do not mention or encourage either blood or organ donation.

Source: Survey of a representative sample of 3,171 UK Christians of all denominations attending church at least two to three times a month and agreeing that their faith is either the most important thing in their life or more important than most other things. They were drawn from the Christian Research Resonate panel of both church leaders and laity and interviewed online between 10 December 2012 and 9 January 2013. The study was undertaken on behalf of Kore in connection with the launch of the fleshandblood campaign, a partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant to mobilize the Church to increase the number of blood and organ donors in the UK. A summary report, Fleshandblood 2013 Research Results, was published on 5 March 2013 and is available at:

http://fleshandblood.org/resource/2013-research-results/

Posted in church attendance, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged al-Qaeda, Angus Reid Public Opinion, blood donation, Chatham House, Christian Research, churchgoers, English Defence League, fleshandblood, Islam, Islamism, Islamophobia, Kore, Lord Ashcroft, Matthew Goodwin, Muslims, NHS Blood and Transplant, organ donation, politics, Populus, Religious Affiliation, terrorism, voting, YouGov | Leave a comment

North African Islamism and Other News

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Clive D. Field

The threat posed by Islamism in North Africa is the lead story in today’s round-up of religious statistical news, with two of the other three items concerning the role of religion in state education.

North African Islamism

Recent events in Mali and Algeria have raised the profile of ‘Islamist militants in North Africa’ to such an extent that 23% of Britons now consider them to be a great threat to this country and a further 43% a minor threat. Those regarding them as some kind of threat are concentrated among Conservative voters (77%) and the over-60s (81%, almost double the number of 18-24s, 42%, holding this view). Only 19% of Britons deem North African Islamism to pose little or no threat, with 15% undecided (including more than one-fifth of the under-40s).

Source: Online survey by YouGov of 2,119 Britons aged 18 and over on 21 and 22 January 2013. Full data posted on 24 January at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/rnrn313ieq/YouGov-Survey-Terrorism-220113.pdf

Faith schools

Almost half (49%) of Britons support making all state schools secular, and thus severing existing links with particular religions. This is 11% more than implicitly back the status quo arrangement for faith schools, with 14% uncertain. The demographics of support for the proposition are interesting. Men (54%) are more in favour than women (44%), which was predictable. The age breaks are more surprising, almost the reverse of what might have been expected: it is the over-60s (54%) who most support ‘secularization’ of state schools and the 18-24s (42%) who are the least sure. Is this a tacit expression of the elderly’s suspicion of Islam and Muslim schools? Geographically, it is in Scotland (63%) where opposition to faith schools peaks, perhaps reflecting the long-standing controversies around the position of Roman Catholic state schools in Scotland. Parents of children in the state primary sector (where the majority of faith schools in Britain are to be found) are somewhat less in favour of secular schools than parents of children in the secondary sector, 42% versus 51% respectively. Conservative voters (48%) are only slightly less likely than Labourites (52%) to want to abolish faith schools.

Source: Online survey by YouGov of 1,750 Britons aged 18 and over undertaken on 6 and 7 January 2013 for Prospect magazine. Full data tables were posted on 24 January, to coincide with publication of Peter Kellner’s feature about the survey in the February 2013 issue of Prospect. The tables are available at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/gzklm8utri/YG-Archive-Prospect-results-070113-education-state-schools.pdf

EBacc and RE

The Government’s introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is having a negative impact on school provision of non-EBacc subjects, including religious education (RE), according to a new survey of schoolteachers. Among respondents, 13% reported a decline in provision for RE in their schools as a consequence of the EBacc (3% more than recorded that their schools were planning to cut RE in a similar survey in May 2011). Comparable reductions in provision for other non-EBacc subjects were: 14% for citizenship, music, and personal, social and health education; 15% for information and communication technology; and 16% for art, and design and technology.

Source: Online survey of over 2,500 schoolteachers by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the largest teachers’ union. No methodological details were given in the press release about the survey issued by the NASUWT on 23 January 2013. However, by analogy with the 2011 study, it seems probable that the sample comprised members of the NASUWT working in secondary schools in England, and reporting on the experiences of their own schools. The press release can be found at:

http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Whatsnew/NASUWTNews/PressReleases/EBaccSurvey#

Ageing priests

Quite a bit is known about the age profile of Church of England clergy (see, for example, Tables 23 and 24 in Church Statistics, 2010/11), but less information has been available about Roman Catholic priests. Now, thanks to new research by the Movement for Married Clergy (MMC), we know that only 4% of secular clergy in England and Wales in 2012 were aged 40 and under, and 38% aged 60 and under. That left 27% aged 61-70 and 35% over 70 years. Projecting the data forward by a decade, the MMC notes ‘a danger sign about replacement’, not least considering that, although ‘secular priests continue to remain in parishes until 70, the most effective work is done by those below the age of 60’.

Source: Analysis by the MMC of the dates of birth of 1,074 secular priests in seven English and Welsh dioceses in 2012, representing 26% of all such priests in England and Wales. Information was either extracted from published diocesan directories or provided by diocesan offices. The analysis is unpublished but has been generously supplied to BRIN by Dr Michael Winter, MMC’s chairman. It should be noted that the snippet about the study in the Catholic Herald of 18 January 2013 is garbled.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Survey news | Tagged EBacc, English Baccalaureate, Faith schools, Islamism, Islamist militants, Movement for Married Clergy, NASUWT, National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, North Africa, priests, Prospect, religious education, Roman Catholic Church, state schools, terrorism, YouGov | 1 Comment

Theresa May’s Bad Hair Day

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Just over half (54%) of the British public think that Home Secretary Theresa May has badly handled the issue of the deportation to his native Jordan of Abu Qatada al-Filistini, the radical Muslim cleric given asylum in Britain in 1994 but who has since been implicated in Islamist terrorism. 28% gave a positive assessment of May’s performance in the affair, and 18% expressed no opinion.

The findings come from a YouGov survey for The Sunday Times, conducted online on 19 and 20 April 2012 following last week’s revelations that the Government may have miscalculated the date by which Qatada had to file any appeal against deportation to the European Court of Human Rights (which he did at the eleventh hour). Tables for the poll, in which 1,715 adults were interviewed, have been posted at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/skmim3awcy/YG-Archives-SundayTimes-results-200412.pdf

May is a Conservative minister in a Coalition administration with Liberal Democrats, so it is not perhaps surprising that there were a below average number of critics of her handling of the Qatada case among Conservative (39%) and Liberal Democrat (48%) voters. Labour supporters were very condemnatory (65%). The over-60s were almost twice as critical of May as the 18-24s (63% versus 35% respectively).

An overwhelming majority of Britons (81%) wanted Qatada to be deported now, regardless of his appeal, the figure peaking at 91% among Conservative voters, 87% of the over-60s and 85% of Scots. 14% considered Qatada should be allowed to stay in Britain while his appeal is heard and then deported if he loses; Liberal Democrats (23%) particularly favoured this course of action.

These results represent a hardening of public opinion since it was last tested by YouGov on 9 and 10 February 2012. Then 70% of respondents opted for Qatada’s deportation, irrespective of whether he would be guaranteed a fair trial in Jordan (the stumbling-block at that time being whether Jordan would use evidence obtained by torture against Qatada). For BRIN’s coverage of this earlier survey, see:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/abu-qatada/

Posted in Religion and Politics, Survey news | Tagged Abu Qatada al-Filistini, deportation, European Court of Human Rights, Home Secretary, Islamism, Sunday Times, terrorism, Theresa May, YouGov | 2 Comments

Abu Qatada

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Clive D. Field

An overwhelming majority of Britons support the deportation to his native Jordan of Abu Qatada al-Filistini, the radical Muslim cleric implicated in Islamist terrorism, notwithstanding fears expressed by some that he may not receive a fair trial in his homeland.

This is according to a YouGov poll for today’s edition of The Sunday Times. A representative sample of 1,753 adults aged 18 and over was interviewed online on 9 and 10 February 2012. Data tables have been posted at:

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/ly9ei68uye/YG-Archives-Pol-ST-results-10-120212.pdf

Abu Qatada has been in Britain since 1993, having been given asylum here in 1994 for reasons of religious persecution in Jordan. He has mostly been in British custody since shortly after 7/7 in 2005 but has been fighting deportation on human rights grounds.

Last week a High Court judge in a Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled that Abu Qatada should be released on bail, to the fury of the UK Government and – it now seems – the general public, also.

70% of YouGov’s respondents opted for Abu Qatada’s deportation, regardless of whether he can be guaranteed a fair trial abroad. The over-60s and Conservative voters (82% each) especially clamoured for this.

20% wanted guarantees of a fair trial as a condition of deportation, with 18-24s (37%), Liberal Democrats (35%) and Londoners (30%) most in favour. Only 1% opposed deportation, with 9% unsure.

Confronted with the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that Abu Qatada should not be deported to Jordan as evidence obtained from torture might be used against him, 54% wanted Britain to ignore the ECHR and deport Abu Qatada. Again, Conservatives (67%) and over-60s (68%) took the strongest line.

A further 33% (including 48% of Liberal Democrats and the 18-24s and 45% of Londoners) considered that Britain ought to abide by the ECHR ruling but seek assurances from Jordan that evidence obtained by torture would not be used against Abu Qatada. In the light of the ECHR judgment, the number opposed to deportation grew to 4%, with 8% uncertain what should be done.

However, the greatest hostility toward Abu Qatada was reserved for the suggestion that, once bailed, he might go back on to state benefits, as he had been before his arrest in 2005.

82% of YouGov’s sample opposed this possibility, rising to 91% of Conservative voters and the over-60s. Just 12% (but 26% of Liberal Democrats, 25% of Londoners and 21% of 18-24s) felt he should be able to claim benefits.

The replies to this last question exemplify, not simply negativity toward radical Islam, but an increasingly hardening public attitude toward recipients of state benefits, which has become very noticeable since the onset of economic recession in 2008.

Posted in Religion and Politics, Survey news | Tagged Abu Qatada al-Filistini, benefits, deportation, European Court of Human Rights, Islam, Jordan, Muslims, Sunday Times, terrorism, torture, YouGov | 3 Comments

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