Missing discs hit confidence in govt

Voters losing confidence in the 'safe pair of hands'

Friday, 23, Nov 2007 12:00

Alistair Darling's successive emergency statements to MPs have dented public confidence in the government's competence, the latest polls show.

The decline in the number of people who rate Mr Darling and Gordon Brown's abilities has accelerated over the past two months, fuelled by Northern Rock and delivered a final fatal blow by the loss of 25 million people's personal details.

A YouGov poll for Channel 4 News taken in the wake of the latest HMRC security blunder shows 15 per cent of voters think the Brown-Darling team is very competent and 36 per cent fairly competent at running the country's finances, down from last month.

This is mirrored by a Populus poll for the Times, with 64 per cent saying the missing discs have made them question the government's basic competence.

During his tenure at the Treasury, Mr Brown was widely credited for his management of the economy. But the Populus poll shows faith in the government's ability to run the economy has fallen dramatically in two months, from 61 per cent in early September to 28 per cent now.

Nearly three-quarters also say the missing discs have dented their confidence in the government's ability to handle confidential data, with a majority now opposing ID cards for the first time.

Mr Darling has insisted ministers should not be held accountable for the missing discs. However 55 per cent of those polled by YouGov said the chancellor should share some of the blame, with 49 per cent implicating his predecessor.

Voters' loss of faith stretches beyond the immediate blunder of the missing discs, with a majority now pessimistic about the general economic outlook.

Populus found 34 per cent think the economy is set to do well, down from 54 per cent in early September.

The Conservatives, although still leading in the polls, have failed to fully capitalise on the loss of faith in the government.

The number who think George Osborne and David Cameron would be very competent at managing the economy stands at just nine per cent, with 37 per cent judging them fairly competent in the YouGov poll.

Despite this, the YouGov poll hands the Conservatives their strongest lead for 15 years.

The Tories are nine points ahead of Labour on 41 per cent after a five point climb over the past month.

Labour have dropped three to 32 per cent, while the Lib Dems are up one on 14 per cent.