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Few Britons Satisfied with Blair’s Take on Terrorism
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Adults in Britain are wary of Tony Blair's performance when dealing with terrorism, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. Only 25 per cent of respondents believe the prime minister's government has done an excellent or good job on the issue.
On Jul. 7, four blasts in London killed at least 53 people and injured 700 more. Investigators say three British nationals of Pakistani descent and a Jamaican-born man were responsible for the explosions at three underground stations and a double-decker bus. Authorities believe the event was a coordinated suicide bombing, the first to ever occur in Western Europe.
On Aug. 5, Blair presented specific measures to curb terrorism, declaring, "We are angry. We are angry about extremism and about what they are doing to our country; angry about their abuse of our good nature. We welcome people here who share our values and our way of life. But don't meddle in extremism because if you meddle in it (...) you are going back out again."
Under the proposed legislation, any person who preaches hatred or violence could be deported, people with links to terrorists would be automatically banned from seeking asylum, and naturalized Britons could be stripped of their citizenship.
In an interview with the BBC, Lord Lloyd of Berwick called the planned law "unenforceable," adding, "I have never seen anything like it in an Act of Parliament. And I pity the poor judge who's going to have to explain those words to a jury."
Polling Data
Taking everything into account, how do you rate the government's handling so far of terrorism and the terrorist threat to Britain?
Excellent | 3% |
Good | 22% |
Fair | 36% |
Poor | 21% |
Very poor | 15% |
Don't know | 3% |
Source: YouGov / Daily Telegraph
Methodology: Online interviews to 2,183 British adults, conducted from Sept. 27 to Sept. 29, 2005. No margin of error was provided.