‘Declining' is the most common word associated with Britain, damning poll shows
The most common word the public associates with Britain is 'declining', a damning new poll has revealed.
A study by a group of Labour backers reveals seven in 10 people feel ignored by politicians amid the erosion of public services and the hollowing out of local communities.
Keir Starmer to take the fight to Reform UK with a radical programme to rebuild local communities - not by seeking to ape Nigel Farage on immigration.
Labour 's sister Co-op Party and campaign group Hope not Hate, backed by union Unison, have co-published a report laying bare the despair among voters after more than a decade of communities being eroded and public services being underfunded.
Amid growing disillusionment among voters, the report warned Britain faces a choice between 'a path of division and extremity, or a path of community power, hope and solidarity'.
When asked by pollsters Focaldata to describe the UK today, four in 10 voters said 'declining', while a quarter said 'weak' and another quarter said 'directionless'. And among those who say they feel ignored by politicians, the majority are planning to vote for Mr Farage's insurgent right-wing party.
As well as a sense of national decline, almost half of voters said their local area has been declining, with the report warning that a fall in the number of community organisations is eroding the country's sense of shared identity and trust.
The report calls on the PM to immediately develop and publish a strategy to support communities, including through further devolution and greater support for community ownership.
The general secretary of the Co-op Party, which has 43 MPs in Westminster and is represented by cabinet ministers including business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, said it is 'clear that the path to rebuilding trust in politics runs through our communities'.
Joe Fortune, a quietly influential figure in Labour circles, told The Independent: 'People want the power to improve the place they call home, but politics needs to deliver that power in a serious way.'
Mr Fortune said rebuilding communities would act as 'an antidote to the trust crisis' in politics.
Nick Lowles, founder and chief executive of the Hope not Hate campaign group, said investing in communities is 'the only way we can fight the rise of Reform UK '.
'After over a decade of austerity, communities in Britain feel isolated. In times of economic hardship, it is harder to come together, forge friendships and tackle local issues. People feel ignored by the politicians who are meant to represent them,' he added.
And Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, Britain's biggest trade union, said: 'Public services are the beating heart of communities and if they're suffering, people are clearly going to feel abandoned and ignored.
"Residents need to feel connected again. That means proper investment in public services to rebuild neighbourhoods and, in turn, restore trust in politicians at both national and local levels."
Mr Farage and Reform swept to victory in hundreds of council seats and a series of mayoral contests in this month's local elections. The party has surged in the polls as disillusioned voters turn their backs on Labour and the Conservatives.
Hilary Armstrong, chair of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods, said the only way to quell the 'pull of political extremism' is to reverse the decline of local neighbourhoods.
'Up and down the country, neighbourhoods have been battered by decades of deindustrialisation and a decade of austerity. From illegal drugs to vandalism, litter to anti-social behaviour, the everyday experience in communities has markedly declined,' Baroness Armstrong added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
25 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Home Office plans to spend £2.2bn of foreign aid on asylum support this year
The Home Office plans to spend about £2.2 billion of foreign aid to support asylum seekers this financial year, according to new figures. The amount of overseas development assistance (ODA) budgeted by the Home Office – which is largely used to cover accommodation costs such as hotels for asylum seekers – is slightly less than the £2.3 billion it spent in 2024/25. International rules allow countries to count first-year costs of supporting refugees as overseas development assistance (ODA). The figures, first reported by the BBC, were published in recent days on the Home Office website. The Home Office said it is 'urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs' which will cut the amount spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. It also said it was expected to have saved £500 million in asylum support costs in the last financial year, and that this had saved £200 million in ODA which had been passed back to the Treasury. A total of 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March this year. This figure is down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier. Asylum seekers and their families are housed in temporary accommodation if they are waiting for the outcome of a claim or an appeal and have been assessed as not being able to support themselves independently. They are housed in hotels if there is not enough space in accommodation provided by local authorities or other organisations. Labour has previously said it is 'committed to end the use of asylum hotels over time', adding that under the previous Conservative government at one stage 'more than 400 hotels were in use and almost £9 million per day was being spent'. Jo White, chairwoman of the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday: 'We need to be looking at things like ECHR article eight. I don't think anything's off the table … including looking at new options such as processing abroad. 'So, we have to be open to see how we can move move that backlog as quickly as possible. I'm getting impatient. 'I know my colleagues in parliament are getting impatient and we're pressing the Government as hard as we can on this.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure and are urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs. 'This will ultimately reduce the amount of official development assistance spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. 'We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so that we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4 billion by 2026. 'The Rwanda scheme also wasted £700 million to remove just four volunteers – instead, we have surged removals to nearly 30,000 since the election, are giving law enforcement new counter-terror style powers, and increasing intelligence sharing through our Border Security Command to tackle the heart of the issue, vile people-smuggling gangs.'
-holds-a-banner-as-he-takes-part-in-the-No-More-Austerity-2-0-march.jpeg%3Ftrim%3D0%2C0%2C0%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
Jeremy Corbyn amongst thousands at rally to protest Labour ‘austerity'
Thousands protested in central London against government spending cuts and welfare reforms, organised by The People's Assembly and attended by former Labour leader and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn. Organisers, including The People's Assembly, criticised the government for implementing spending cuts that disproportionately affect vulnerable members of society. Various organisations, such as the National Education Union, Green Party, and RMT union, participated in the march from Portland Place to Whitehall. Protesters held signs with slogans like 'Tax the rich, stop the cuts – welfare not warfare' and 'Nurses not nukes'. A People's Assembly spokesperson stated that adherence to 'fiscal rules' traps the UK in a public service funding crisis, advocating for taxing the rich to fund public services and investment.
The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
Home Office plans to spend £2.2bn of foreign aid on asylum support this year
The Home Office plans to spend about £2.2 billion of foreign aid to support asylum seekers this financial year, according to new figures. The amount of overseas development assistance (ODA) budgeted by the Home Office – which is largely used to cover accommodation costs such as hotels for asylum seekers – is slightly less than the £2.3 billion it spent in 2024/25. International rules allow countries to count first-year costs of supporting refugees as overseas development assistance (ODA). The figures, first reported by the BBC, were published in recent days on the Home Office website. The Home Office said it is 'urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs' which will cut the amount spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. It also said it was expected to have saved £500 million in asylum support costs in the last financial year, and that this had saved £200 million in ODA which had been passed back to the Treasury. A total of 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March this year. This figure is down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier. Asylum seekers and their families are housed in temporary accommodation if they are waiting for the outcome of a claim or an appeal and have been assessed as not being able to support themselves independently. They are housed in hotels if there is not enough space in accommodation provided by local authorities or other organisations. Labour has previously said it is 'committed to end the use of asylum hotels over time', adding that under the previous Conservative government at one stage 'more than 400 hotels were in use and almost £9 million per day was being spent'. Jo White, chairwoman of the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday: 'We need to be looking at things like ECHR article eight. I don't think anything's off the table … including looking at new options such as processing abroad. 'So, we have to be open to see how we can move move that backlog as quickly as possible. I'm getting impatient. 'I know my colleagues in parliament are getting impatient and we're pressing the Government as hard as we can on this.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure and are urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs. 'This will ultimately reduce the amount of official development assistance spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. 'We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so that we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4 billion by 2026. 'The Rwanda scheme also wasted £700 million to remove just four volunteers – instead, we have surged removals to nearly 30,000 since the election, are giving law enforcement new counter-terror style powers, and increasing intelligence sharing through our Border Security Command to tackle the heart of the issue, vile people-smuggling gangs.'
