Less than half of Britons believe that the UK is a force for good in the world, a fresh poll produced by Ipsos Mori has found, adding that the proportion of people supporting this statement has fallen significantly over the past 17 months
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2020) Less than half of Britons believe that the UK is a force for good in the world, a fresh poll produced by Ipsos Mori has found, adding that the proportion of people supporting this statement has fallen significantly over the past 17 months.
The poll, which was conducted for the EU-UK Forum initiative, found that 49 percent of Britons believe that the UK is a force for good in the world, down 10 percentage points from a survey conducted in April 2019.
Despite this, 41 percent of respondents also said that the UK should continue to "punch above its weight" in world affairs, compared to 24 percent against.
"More broadly, while concerns are growing about Britain's role in the world, still only a minority want to see us step back from the global stage," Ipsos Mori's managing director of public affairs, Kelly Beaver, said in a press release accompanying the poll.
Additionally, 38 percent of respondents said that the UK should "stop pretending" that it is an important power in the world, a rise of five percentage points.
The poll also found that those who voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum are more likely to be positive about the UK's role in the world.
Tensions with the European Union have risen over recent months amid deadlocked trade negotiations, and just 39 percent of UK citizens now believe that London and Brussels are likely to forge a close relationship, down from 52 percent in April 2019, the poll found.
The poll consulted 1,068 UK adults aged 16-75 from September 10-14.
The ninth round of crunch trade negotiations between the UK and the EU is expected to begin on Tuesday.
