According to study, British citizens now have greater faith in the EU than they do in the UK parliament, reversing a trend that has existed for more than 30 years.
After the UK decided to leave the European Union, the percentage of people expressing confidence in the parliament has fallen by 10 percentage points to 22%, while confidence in the Brussels-based union has increased by 7 percentage points to 39%. From 2017 to 2021, people’s trust in the UK government also decreased.
The results of the World Values Survey (WVS), which examined trust in institutions in 24 countries ranging from South Korea to Canada, are likely to inspire more confidence in those who favour reestablishing ties between the UK and the EU.
The abrupt change, according to the former Brexit secretary David Davis, was probably brought on by a “whiny, ugly, bitchy row” over Brexit that has been going on in parliament since late 2017.
Specifically mentioning the Sun, Daily Telegraph, Times, and Daily Mail, he claimed that since Brexit, the media has stopped “kicking Brussels all the time” as they did in the lead-up to the 2016 referendum. He also claimed that UK government crises related to the coronavirus pandemic would have contributed to the decline in trust.
Straight bananas and square strawberries are no longer discussed in books, he claimed.
The increase in confidence comes as a result of the EU’s leaders’ forceful response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s call for his nation to become part of the bloc.
Just 24% of respondents indicated they were “glad” about the UK’s decision to leave the EU, while 49% expressed disappointment.
The results also indicate that the UK has joined the group of nations with the lowest levels of confidence in the executive and legislative branches, trailing France, Germany, Australia, Iran, and China.
Prof. Bobby Duffy, the head of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, who examined the data, stated that “confidence in parliament has decreased by half since 1990.” “Among the more than 20 nations included in the survey, we are among the least likely to have confidence in the government; confidence in the police has dramatically declined, notably in London; and the only country with less faith in their press is Egypt.”
Very low scores among members of the generation X, millennial, and generation Z cohorts contributed to the decline in confidence in parliament.
With only 13% of respondents indicating they had confidence in UK political parties, the country trails Norway (36%), Sweden (32%), Canada (24%) and Germany (23%), but is on par with Brazil, Italy, and France.
The UK ranked 23rd out of 24 nations in terms of press confidence. Media confidence was more than twice as high in Mexico, Italy, Russia, and Brazil.
Surveyed countries
% who say they have a great deal/quite a lot of confidence in the press
Philippines 71%
Japan 70%
China 68%
Iran 60%
Nigeria 54%
Indonesia 50%
South Korea 50%
Canada 43%
Sweden 40%
Norway 39%
Brazil 37%
Germany 36%
Spain 33%
Russia 32%
France 30%
Italy 30%
United States 30%
Mexico 27%
Poland 26%
Morocco 23%
Australia 18%
Greece 14%
United Kingdom 13%
Egypt 8%
Source: The UK in the World Values Survey, Policy Institute, King’s College London
The civil service performs significantly better than our political institutions, and our court system is rated relatively favourably, according to Duffy.
Since its inception in 1981, the WVS has grown to be one of the biggest and most often utilised academic social surveys worldwide. Data for other countries were gathered intermittently throughout the most recent wave of the WVS, which covered the years 2017 to 2022. The most recent UK data were collected in 2022.
This is important, according to Duffy. “The pandemic demonstrated how heavily we rely on public collaboration during emergencies, with trust being a necessary component. The review of the Met police came to the conclusion that “public consent has shattered.” In order to restore public confidence, we must act fast and diligently.
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