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Majority of British voters back Bush visit to London

A majority of Labour voters welcome US President George Bush's state visit to Britain which started yesterday according to this month's Guardian/ICM opinion poll.

The survey shows that public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly pro-American with 62 percent of voters believing that the US is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world."

It explodes the conventional political wisdom at Westminster that Bush's visit will prove damaging to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Only 15 percent of British voters agree with the idea that America is the "evil empire" in the world.

Blair insisted on Monday that he had made the right decision in inviting Bush as an unprecedented security operation got under way to prepare for his arrival. More than 14,000 police officers at a cost of ?5 million will be on duty during the four-day visit, with tens of thousands of anti-war protesters expected to take to the streets.

The ICM poll also uncovers a surge in pro-war sentiment in the past two months as suicide bombers have stepped up their attacks on Western targets and troops in Iraq. Opposition to the war has slumped by 12 points since September to only 41 percent of all voters. At the same time those who believe the war was justified has jumped 9 points to 47 percent of voters.

This swing in the mood of British voters is echoed in the poll's finding that two-thirds of voters believe British and American troops should not pull out of Iraq now but instead stay until the situation is "more stable."

It also may explain the beginnings of a recovery in Blair's personal ratings in this month's Guardian poll. He still remains an unpopular prime minister with 52 percent unhappy with the job he is doing, compared with 40 percent who say they are satisfied with his performance. But his net popularity rating of minus 12 points is a significant improvement over last month's net rating of minus 18 points.

The results of the poll show that more people -- 43 percent -- say they welcome Bush's arrival in Britain than the 36 percent who say they would prefer he did not come.

Labour voters are more enthusiastic about the visit than Tory voters. But it is only Liberal Democrats who are marginally more unhappy about his arrival, with 43 percent against and 39 percent willing to welcome him. A majority of "twenty-somethings" welcome Bush. Hostility is strongest among the over-65s.

There is a clear gender gap in attitudes with a majority of men -- 51 percent -- welcoming the president's arrival, compared with only 35 percent of women.

Pro-Americanism, as might be expected, is strongest among Tory voters with 71 percent saying the US is a force for good. But it is nearly matched by the 66 percent of Labour voters who say the US is a force for good. Anti-Americanism is strongest among Liberal Democrat voters but is still only shared by 24 of them and the majority see the US as the "good guys."

Blair told the CBI national conference in Birmingham on Monday of his support for the war on terrorism. He said the weekend terrorist bombings in Turkey, the recent attacks in Saudi Arabia and continuing bombings in Iraq, meant Britain should "stand firm with the United States of America in defeating terrorism wherever it is ..."

ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,002 adults aged 18 and over by telephone between Nov. 14 to 16.

See Story Why does Blair like Bush?
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