ITV News Index

Methodology: ComRes interviewed 2,020 British adults online between 30^th August and 1^st September 2013.  Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Date Published: 01 Sep 2013

Categories: Energy | International | Media | Politics | Public and communities | Technology & Telecoms

Description

** CREDIT ITV NEWS AND COMRES WITH ANY MATERIAL USED **

  

COMRES/ ITV NEWS POLL: SIX IN TEN BRITONS SAY DAVID CAMERON WAS ‘RECKLESS’ OVER SYRIA ACTIONS

 

 The latest Index poll conducted by ComRes for ITV News at Ten reveals that six in ten Britons (59%) believe that the Prime Minister behaved ‘recklessly’ by publicly proposing military action in Syria without knowing if he had the support of Parliament. One in five disagree (21%) and a similar number are unsure (20%).

 

More than half of the population (55%) believe that David Cameron was wrong to propose military action in Syria. Just one in five (22%) disagree while 23% don’t know.

 

Less than one quarter of the population (23%) believe the Prime Minister was right to propose military action in Syria, with more than half (54%) disagreeing and 23% who are unsure.

 

Despite these feelings, only one third (33%) believe it shows that David Cameron is weak as he could not get Parliament to support his proposal of military intervention, with 42% disagreeing.

 

When considering the House of Commons voting against British involvement in any military action in Syria, 60% of Britons believe Parliament has ‘done the right thing’ in voting against it, while an even greater proportion, 65%, see Britain as taking a more responsible attitude to foreign conflicts than in the past.

 

More than half (56%) disagree that Britain has damaged its international standing, that Britain has abandoned the Syrian people in distress (56%) and that Britain will look weak if America and France take military action anyway (59% disagreed).

 

Interestingly, there is a significant age divide in perceptions of the Prime Minister’s handling of the Syrian crisis. Only 36% of those aged 18-24 see Cameron’s proposal of military action in Syria as wrong, compared with more than two thirds (69%) of those aged 65+. A similar trend emerges when asked if Cameron behaved recklessly in proposing military action, with only 37% of those aged 18-24 agreeing as opposed to 73% of those aged 65+.

 

Full results table:

 

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

 

Statement	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know
David Cameron behaved recklessly by publically proposing military action in Syria without knowing that he had the support of Parliament	59%	21%	20%
David Cameron was wrong to propose military action in Syria	55%	22%	23%
It shows that David Cameron is weak as he could not get Parliament to support his proposal of military intervention in Syria	33%	42%	25%
David Cameron was right to propose military action in Syria	23%	54%	23%

  

Do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? By the House of Commons voting against British involvement in any military action in Syria….

 

Statement	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know
It shows Britain is taking a more responsible attitude to foreign conflicts than it has in the past	65%	15%	20%
Parliament has done the right thing	60%	15%	26%
It is now wrong for America to take military action in Syria	34%	30%	36%
The ‘special relationship’ between the UK and America will be weakened	26%	45%	29%
It will encourage the use of chemical weapons by military dictators in future	25%	42%	33%
Britain will look weak if America and France take military action anyway	23%	59%	18%
Britain has abandoned the Syrian people in distress	21%	56%	23%
Britain has damaged its international standing	20%	56%	24%