The referendums of 1975 and 2016 illustrate the continuity and change in British Euroscepticism

The British public has voted on membership of the EU on two occasions. In 1975, based on a turnout of 64 per cent, two-thirds voted to stay in the EEC, cementing Britain’s place for the next four decades. In 2016, in a closely-fought contest, on a turnout of 72 per cent, 52 per cent of the public voted to leave the EU, with 48 per cent supporting remain. As Ben Clements (University of Leicester) observes, the political and ideological alignments underlying support for withdrawal were markedly different in 1975 and 2016. There were clearer similarities, though, in the socioeconomic correlates of support for remaining

Britain and the bomb: Surveying party supporters’ attitudes on the nuclear weapons debate

With Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the Trident system, becoming an important issue in the general election campaign, Ben Clements investigates party supporters’ views over time towards nuclear weapons. He finds a general trend of declining support for Britain having her own nuclear weapons, with Conservative and UKIP supporters tending to stand apart from the other groups in holding positive views

Who are the ‘religious nones’ in Britain? Atheists, agnostics or something else?

The religiously unaffiliated, ‘religious nones’, have been a growing segment of the British adult population in recent decades, as recorded in social surveys and opinion polls. But, Ben Clements asks, can surveys and polls effectively shed light on which sorts of secular or non-religious identities feature within this expanding category

The British public and NATO: still a strong alliance?

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation celebrates its 70th year, Ben Clements analyses evidence on the views of the British public towards the alliance. He finds that, over time, Britons have generally been consistent in supporting NATO. Public opinion towards NATO has been given added topicality in recent years for several reasons. First, worsening relations between NATO countries and Russia over Ukraine and more general tensions over aspects of international policy. Second, controversial pronouncements made by Donald Trump, including labelling NATO as ‘obsolete’ – a view which he subsequently renounced – and expressing firm views – also voiced by his predecessors using more diplomatic language – on the need for other members to increase their defence spending. Third, Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party has given rise to more scrutiny of his views on foreign and defence policy. But what does the British public think of NATO

THE BIG TECH ACCOUNTABILITY ACT: REFORMING HOW THE BIGGEST CORPORATIONS CONTROL AND EXPLOIT ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS

A handful of global corporations have taken control of the internet, the dominant medium of modern communication and commerce, and have used that control to create and sell databases of personal information of Americans and to systematically amplify dangerous disinformation and violence on an unprecedented scale. This has created a growing threat to our democracy and our people. While our elected officials and many in the media claim to recognize the danger, a corporate-friendly First Amendment absolutism and misguided fears about chilling voices on the internet have preempted any serious effort at reform or regulation. Neither the First Amendment nor the desire to protect the robust exchange of ideas on the internet justifies this inaction. Instead, legislation that would protect personal privacy and autonomy on the internet and hold Big Tech companies accountable for promoting fraudulent disinformation and violence would be consistent with the First Amendment and would, in fact, strengthen the free exchange of ideas on the internet

Catholic voters in Britain: what are their political preferences?

Is religion a good vote predictor? Ben Clements looks at the preferences of the Catholic community in the UK and finds that the historical data confirm a strong link between Catholics and the Labour Party – a link that is even clearer in Scotland. But more recent data also indicate some decrease in support

To Conscience first, and to the Pope (long) afterwards? British Catholics and their attitudes towards morality and structural issues concerning the Catholic Church

Background The attitudes of Catholics in Britain have undergone significant liberalisation on social moral issues across recent decades, whilst the reputation of the Catholic Church has suffered due to public opposition to its traditional teachings on such issues. But there has been comparatively little recent scholarly investigation into British Catholics’ views on these debates using surveys specifically aimed at this religious community. Purpose This article examines the sources of attitudinal heterogeneity amongst Catholics in Britain on core debates affecting the Catholic Church. The aims are to examine, firstly, which groups within the British Catholic Community are more likely to conform to or to dissent from the Church’s teachings and, secondly, whether the socio-demographic and religious correlates of attitudes vary across different types of issue. Methods This article uses a new, nationally representative survey of Catholic adults (in terms of age, sex, and region) in Britain (n=1,823). The survey is used to examine the sources of variation in Catholics’ attitudes towards a range of issues relating to the Roman Catholic Church. These issues relate to the priesthood, personal morality, and sinful behaviours. OLS models are used to assesses the relative impact of socio-demographic, religious socialisation, and religious commitment variables. Results The findings demonstrate that gender and generational group form important dividing lines within the British Catholic community. Women and post-Vatican II Catholics are much more liberal in their views. Different manifestations of religious commitment are associated with Catholics’ attitudes in consistent ways across issues. Greater commitment is always associated with support for the traditional teachings of the Church. Conclusions and implications By exploring of the sources of attitudinal heterogeneity among Catholics, much light is shed on both the internal dynamics of ‘Britain’s largest minority’, and thus on contemporary British religion in general. We conclude by discussing the potential effects of increasing ‘nonversion’ for interpreting religious statistics – a topic, like much else in this paper, of relevance beyond the denominational and geographical confines of its explicit focus