Mixed reception awaits Bush
A new survey has found that more than half of Labour supporters back the state visit of US president George Bush.
The ICM survey for The Guardian found that only 43 per cent of voters approved of the visit. Thirty six per cent said Mr Bush ought to stay away. Twelve per cent were noncommittal.
Among Labour voters, 51 per cent said they backed his visit, against 34 per cent who did not.
Some 45 per cent of “Conservatives” welcomed the President’s visit; 37 per cent opposed it.
Liberal Democrat supporters were most opposed to Mr Bush’s visit, with 43 per cent saying he should stay away, compared to 39 per cent who welcomed him.
Tony Blair told the CBI conference yesterday the recent terror attacks in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the bombing of United Nations and Red Cross buildings in Iraq made Mr Bush’s visit all the more necessary.
“This is the right moment for us to stand firm with the United States in defeating terrorism, wherever it is, and delivering us safely from what I genuinely believe to be the security threat of the 21st century.
“Now is not the time to waver, now is the time to see it through.”
Mr Bush will arrive in the UK this evening to find the capital transformed into “Fortress London” amid fears of a terror strike.
Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir John Stevens said the security level was “unprecedented.”
The president will be staying with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Ten of thousands of anti-war supporters will take to the streets on Thursday to make their feelings known about what they deem to be aggressive US foreign policy.
Overall, 62 per cent of interviewees concurred with the view that the US was “generally speaking, a force for good.” Fifteen per cent said America was “an evil empire.”
The prime minister fared well in the survey, seeing his overall popularity rating improve to minus-12, up from last month’s minus-18.
About two-thirds of respondents said that UK and US soldiers should leave Iraq.
ICM questioned 1,002 adults between November 14 and 16.
