Nearly six in ten voters think politicians don't show enough compassion

10 April 2023 , 10:32

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Voters want to see more compassion from politicians, a survey found in a week Labour was attacked over controversial adverts

Nearly six in ten voters believe political leaders do not display enough compassion. new polling shows.

Data from YouGov reveals 57% believe leading politicians should show more compassion, compared with 9% who say they are already too compassionate,

Labour voters are far more likely to think political leaders in Britain do not show sufficient compassion, according to the research commissioned by the Global Compassion Coalition.

The YouGov survey had 83% of them responding that there was too little compassion, compared with 37% of Conservative voters at the last general election.

It comes as the Tories are accused of "dog whistle" politics, while Labour has sparked claims of "gutter" attacks on the Prime Minister with a series of attacks.

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Jennifer Nadel, co-director of the Compassion in Politics campaign, said: "In the last few days we've seen an example of the kind of politics we must leave behind.

Labour voters are far more likely to think there's too little compassion in UK politics

"A serious and sensitive issue has been used to score political points at the expense of respectful and constructive debate. And as our polling reveals - the public have had enough.

"Politics should be the space where we come together to solve common problems and improve lives for the better - not a winner-takes-all punch-up that leaves us all weaker and worn out."

It comes as Keir Starmer defied calls to withdraw Labour's campaign accusing the Prime Minister of not thinking child sex abusers should go to prison.

There has been unease on the Labour frontbench about the attacks on Mr Sunak over the Conservative Government's track record on crime.

Senior figures have also criticised it, with Labour former home secretary Lord David Blunkett suggesting the ad was an example of "gutter" politics, saying: "My party is better than this."

Plans to put asylum seekers on a barge have sparked allegations of ministerial cruelty

Alongside a photo of the Prime Minister, an image reads: "Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn't."

Meanwhile the Government has been accused of putting forward "epitome of cruel" legislation targeting immigrants.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has announced plans to house asylum seekers on a barge off the coast of Dorset.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said:“Along with the disastrous Rwanda scheme, all talk of barges, cruise ships and former military barracks should be abandoned."

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He added: “Instead of more ministerial cruelty, we need sweeping asylum reforms, with an emphasis on deciding claims fairly and efficiently, acting on those decisions, eliminating wasteful repeat reconsiderations of decisions that people are entitled to asylum, and making a real effort to reduce huge backlogs and unreasonable Home Office workloads.”

Sam Blewett