The latest Opinium poll for the Observer newspaper in Britain shows that voters have given broad approval to the government’s handling of the social unrest, including its pursuit of those inciting racial hatred and violence online, according to The Guardian.
Across a series of measures, most voters thought that the government’s response to the rioting was either proportionate or not strong enough. Overall, 43% of voters approve of the government’s handling of the riots, while 30% disapprove.
The Guardian says the poll shows that, in terms of the severity of the response, 44% think the government has reacted proportionately to the outbreaks of violence and unrest and 26% think it didn’t go far enough. Only 18% believed ministers had overreacted. There was a similar view on the sentences handed out, with some 70% thinking they were either about right or not harsh enough.
The newspaper says that while Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has been criticising the UK’s approach to arresting those found to have been inciting online, the public appear to disagree.
Musk has described Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, as being part of “The Woke Stasi”. However, 67% of voters said it was fair that people had been arrested for inciting racial hatred on social media, with 15% disagreeing.
An almost identical proportion – 68% – backed the arrest of those inciting violence on social media.