A majority of respondents want the UK Government to continue to be a global leader to solve international disputes.
Many people in Britain believe their Government should only use military force under specific circumstances, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative sample of 2,007 British adults, two thirds of respondents (69%) believe the UK Government should only use force against another nation with authorization from the United Nations (UN).
A majority of Britons (58%) think the UK Government should continue to be a global leader to solve international disputes, and a similar proportion (54%) support the policy of overthrowing dictatorships and change regimes if the Government believes they pose an imminent threat.
Only one-in-four respondents (24%) would consent to the UK Government relying on torture to gain information from terrorism suspects.
Voters who supported the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 General Election are slightly more likely to oppose torture and regime change than those who voted Conservative or Labour two years ago.
Britain and the U.S.
Compared to a similar survey of Americans conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion earlier this year, Britons are more likely to support the use of force exclusively under a UN mandate (69%, compared to 50% in the U.S.) and hold similar views on whether regime change is justifiable on the face of an imminent threat (54%, compared to 48% in the U.S.).
A considerable difference is observed on the question related to the use of torture to gain information from terrorism suspects. This policy is endorsed by a third of Americans (34%) but only one-in-four Britons (24%).
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Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion +877 730 3570 mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From March 21 to March 22, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,007 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error"”which measures sampling variability"”is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
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