Fears of an Imminent Terrorist Attack Subside in Britain
Al-Qaeda and other Islamic-based terrorist groups remain a concern for more than two thirds of respondents.
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(03/04/13) -
People in Britain are not as worried about facing terrorism as they were three years ago, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 2,013 British adults, 44 per cent of respondents think a terrorist attack is “very likely” or “moderately likely” to happen in the next year. This represents a 15-point drop since a similar survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in July 2010, on the fifth anniversary of the London bombings.
Two-in-five Britons express “complete confidence” or “a lot of confidence” in the Secret Intelligence Service – MI6 (43%) and the Secret Intelligence Service – MI6 (42%) to avert a terrorist attack. The rating is lower for special police forces (36%) and territorial police forces (30%).
One third of respondents (32%) think the UK is safer now than in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings.
Seven-in-ten Britons (70%) think it is “very likely” or “moderately likely” that a terrorist attack as deadly as the 2005 London bombings will take place in their lifetimes, down 10 points since July 2010.
Two thirds of respondents (68%) say they are more worried about al-Qaeda and other Islamic-based terrorist groups, while just three per cent express concern about residual terrorist groups in Northern Ireland.
Three-in-five Britons (59%) think it is more important to ensure that a terrorist attack does not take place, while 26 per cent place more emphasis in guaranteeing the civil liberties of people in the UK.
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Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From February 26 to February 28, 2013, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,013 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.
