Amid all the fun and games of the EU referendum campaign, the polls suggest that economic anxiety is growing, along with concern about the government’s economic management. Voters are worried, but they don’t think Labour would do any better.
Economic optimism has fallen to its lowest level since March 2013, and only 18 per cent believe the economy will improve over the next year. Many more are pessimistic. It’s worth noting that this isn’t necessarily a sign of a slump because for most of this century – long before the Crash of 2008, the public were pessimistic about the economy – even though it grew after year after year.
However, it is normally unhelpful news for a government, as economic competence is one of the foundations of political success: in fact ratings of the government’s management of the economy have fallen too, with nearly half (47 per cent) who say the government has done a bad job over the past year (42 per cent are positive).
