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From
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4376942,00.html
}}}>Begin
Voters say no to Iraq attack
51% oppose British backing for US action
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Tuesday March 19, 2002
The Guardian
A majority of voters are opposed to British backing for American military action
against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, according to this month's Guardian/ICM opinion poll.
The ICM survey will strengthen the position of Clare Short, who on Sunday became
the first Labour cabinet minister to declare her opposition to "a blind military
attack on
Iraq" and hinted she might quit the government over the issue.
But the poll will also encourage even more senior figures in the cabinet, such as the
home secretary, David Blunkett, who has privately warned fellow ministers that there
will be a serious rise in racial tension in Britain and a danger of riots if Britain
joined
the attack on Saddam.
The poll shows that a clear majority - 51% - would disapprove of British political
support for an American-led attack on Iraq, with or without the presence of British
troops. Only 35% say they would support such action.
Labour voters are split down the middle on the issue with marginally more, 46%,
saying they would disapprove than the 43% who say Britain should back such a US
attack.
But Conservative voters are slightly more hostile to an attack on Iraq, with 48%
against and 41% in favour, leaving Iain Duncan Smith at odds with half of his party's
voters. He showed his support for action when he called yesterday for Europe's
leaders to "stop gazing at their political navel" and give their support "until the US
completes its unfinished business with the Iraqi leader".
The ICM poll shows that the Germans and French are more in tune with British
public opinion on this issue than Mr Blair or Mr Duncan Smith. The German defence
minister, Rudolph Scharping, yesterday made clear there was no majority in the
German parliament for intervention in Iraq. The French have also made clear their
reluctance.
The ICM survey shows that Liberal Democrat voters are by far the most hostile to
new military action against Iraq, with an overwhelming 67% opposed, indicating that
Charles Kennedy has been right to adopt the most cautious approach of the three
main party leaders. Only 21% of Liberal Democrat voters say they would back British
support for an American-led invasion, putting them firmly to the left of Labour.
Opposition to a new war in Iraq marks a sharp change of mood in British public
opinion in recent months. Last October some 74% said they supported US and
British military action against Afghanistan. It is also signifies a change in long-term
attitude towards Iraq among the British public.
In February 1998 a Guardian/ICM poll found that 56% supported bombing raids
against Iraq, and in February 1991 the Guardian/ICM poll showed that 80% of British
voters backed the allied coalition using force to get Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
� ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,001 adults aged over 18 by telephone
between March 15 and 17. Interviews were conducted across the country and the
results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.
Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
End<{{{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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