UK Poll: British to close to USA/Israel overreacted

Exclusive ICM poll 63% say PM has tied Britain too close to White House
Julian Glover Ewen MacAskill

Britain should take a much more robust and independent approach to the United States, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today, which finds strong public opposition to Tony Blair's close working relationship with President Bush.


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Just 30% think the prime minister has got the relationship about right, against 63% saying he has tied Britain too closely to the US.
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Even a majority of Labour supporters ?- traditionally more supportive of Mr Blair's foreign policy position ?- think he has misjudged the relationship, with 54% saying Britain is too close to the US. Conservatives ?- 68% ?- and Liberal Democrats ?- 83% ?- are even more critical.
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Although a solid core of Labour supporters ?- 48% ?- still think the war was justified, overall only 36% of voters agree ?- a seven-point drop since the Guardian last asked the question in October 2004.

Older voters, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and people living in the south are particularly critical, suggesting the anti-war movement has a base of support well beyond student groups and the left.

Support for the war reached 63% in April 2003, in the wake of early military success. Now a narrow majority of voters ?- 51% ?- believe it was unjustified, the highest proportion for more than two years.
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They are more concerned by the role of British forces in Iraq than Afghanistan, with 36% saying their presence is making the situation worse in Iraq against 29% who think this is true of Britain's more recent deployment in southern Afghanistan.

But both findings outweigh the proportion of voters who think British troops are improving the situation on the ground: just 19% of all those questioned think they are making progress in Iraq and 23% think this is the case in Afghanistan. Around a third of voters think that at best British forces are making no difference one way or the other in the two countries.

There is also minimal public appetite for fresh foreign policy commitments, such as a multinational force in Lebanon. An overwhelming proportion of voters think current deployments are already overstretching Britain's military resources: 69% agree; 19% do not.

Conservatives ?- 78% of whom believe the armed forces are overstretched ?- are especially concerned, despite David Cameron's support for an interventionist policy, symbolised by his visit to troops in Kandahar yesterday. • ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,001 adults over 18 by telephone on July 21-23. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.