Most Britons Expect a New Terrorist Attack in the Next Year
Three-in-ten respondents believe the country is now safer than it was in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings.
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(07/21/10) -
Three-in-ten respondents believe the country is now safer than it was in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings.
Five years after the London bombings that killed 52 people, many adults in Britain believe that their country will become a target for terrorism again, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,980 British adults, 59 per cent of respondents think it is “very likely” or “moderately likely” that a terrorist attack will happen in the UK in the next year.
Two-in-five respondents express “complete confidence” or “a lot of confidence” in the ability of the Secret Intelligence Service – MI6 (41%) and the Security Service – MI5 (40%) to avert a terrorist attack. Fewer respondents feel the same way about the special police forces (37%) and the territorial police forces (27%).
In all, 31 per cent of respondents say the UK is safer now than in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings, while 15 per cent think the country is less safe. Almost half of respondents (46%) perceive no difference.
Four-in-five Britons (80%) believe that a new terrorist attack as deadly as the 2005 London bombings is “very likely” or “moderately likely” to take place in their lifetimes.
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CONTACT:
Andy Morris, Research Director, London
+ 44-207-065-7272
andy.morris@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From July 15 to July 16, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,980 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.
