Annex C: public perspectives of terrorism and counter-terrorism
Updated 22 September 2023
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Key findings from polling of the British population from January 2022 to January 2023
Introduction
The aim of the Home Office’s bi-monthly public polling is to help the counter-terrorism system better account for trends in public perspectives as well as assess the extent to which society can live freely and with confidence from the threat of terrorism.
This research provides insight on public views around three key areas which have been monitored since March 2021. These include:
- Whether the public feels free and safe from terrorism in the UK
- Whether the public feel confident to go about their lives unrestrained by terrorism
- How confident the public are in the government’s response to protect them from terrorism
Methodology
The poll uses Ipsos UK’s iOmnibus online panel, with a typical sample of c.2,000 individuals aged 16-75 across England, Scotland and Wales. Quotas are set to reflect the known profile of the British adult population by age, gender, region and working status. The sample does not include individuals based in Northern Ireland but asks respondents for their perceptions of national security in the UK overall. Results are weighted to account for any shortfalls in quotas including by age, gender, region, working status and social grade to ensure the data is nationally representative.
The polling uses non-probability sampling methodology and is subject to a range of potential sources of error. Polling data can help quantify scale and trends in public perspectives but cannot necessarily capture the ‘why’ or underpinning reasons without further exploratory research.
Findings
For each area of the three key areas of interest, findings are reported as a percentage of total responses per round. While data are available from March 2021, we focus on the past 12 months given the relative stability of observed trends.
1. Public feeling free and safe from terrorism
Figure 1 shows how safe people feel in the UK overall from the threat of terrorism between January 2022 and January 2023. Feelings of safety have remained stable since January 2022, with two thirds (66%) saying they feel very/fairly safe from terrorism in the UK. The proportion of those feeling very/fairly unsafe, has also remained stable over the year to January 2023.
Figure 1: Generally speaking, how safe or unsafe from the threat of terrorism do you feel in the UK overall?
| Date | Very safe | Fairly safe | Neither safe nor unsafe | Fairly unsafe | Very unsafe | Don’t know | Does not apply - I am never in this setting | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 18% | 48% | 20% | 8% | 3% | 2% | 0% | 100% |
| November 2022 | 20% | 47% | 21% | 7% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| September 2022 | 21% | 46% | 20% | 8% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| July 2022 | 19% | 46% | 19% | 8% | 4% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| May 2022 | 23% | 43% | 19% | 9% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| March 2022 | 20% | 48% | 20% | 8% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| January 2022 | 20% | 46% | 20% | 9% | 3% | 3% | 1% | 100% |
Base: c.2,000 online with British adults aged 16-75 each wave
Public feeling confident to live unrestrained by terrorism
Figure 2 shows the majority of people never or hardly ever feel restrained by the potential threat of terrorism. In January 2023, 68% said they had never or hardly ever been stopped from doing something or going somewhere in the last six months due to terrorism. This figure has ranged between 68% and 63% over the year, with an average of 65%. The proportion who are very often/always stopped from doing something or going somewhere due to terrorism has also varied slightly over the past 12 months.
Figure 2: How often, if at all, has the potential threat of terrorism stopped you from doing something, or going somewhere, in the past 6 months?
| Date | Never | Hardly ever | Rarely | Sometimes | Very often | Always | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 53% | 13% | 14% | 11% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 100% |
| November 2022 | 54% | 14% | 15% | 11% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 100% |
| September 2022 | 53% | 13% | 13% | 12% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| July 2022 | 50% | 13% | 14% | 12% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 100% |
| May 2022 | 51% | 13% | 12% | 12% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 100% |
| March 2022 | 54% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| January 2022 | 52% | 12% | 15% | 12% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
Base: c.2,000 online with British adults aged 16-75 each wave
3. Public confidence in our response to terrorism
Figure 3 shows the majority of people are confident in the ability of the government to protect the UK from terrorism, with an average of 65% saying they are very or fairly confident. This has varied slightly over the year to January 2023, with proportions ranging between 68% and 63%. The proportion who reported little or no confidence in the government to protect the UK from terrorism has remained stable over past 12 months.
Figure 3: How confident, if at all, would you say you are in the ability of the UK government to protect the UK from terrorism?
| Date | Very or fairly confident | Not at all or not very confident | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 67% | 28% | 6% | 100% |
| November 2022 | 66% | 27% | 8% | 100% |
| September 2022 | 67% | 27% | 5% | 100% |
| July 2022 | 66% | 28% | 6% | 100% |
| May 2022 | 63% | 28% | 8% | 100% |
| March 2022 | 66% | 27% | 7% | 100% |
| January 2022 | 64% | 30% | 6% | 100% |
Base: c.2,000 online with British adults aged 16-75 each wave
4. One-off question: public confidence in reporting
A one-off question was asked in July 2022 to understand public confidence on reporting suspicious activity or extreme views. Table 1 shows public confidence in knowing where to officially report varies across different situations. Of the scenarios tested, people are most confident in knowing where to report a suspicious package at a train station (68% say they are confident) or someone acting suspiciously at an airport (66% say they are confident). People are least confident in knowing where to report a website sharing extreme views (42% say they are confident, while 44% say they are not confident).
Table 1: How confident, it at all, are you that you would know where to officially report the following situations?
| Response options | Spotting a suspicious package at a train station | Seeing someone acting suspiciously at an airport | Receiving a leaflet through your door displaying extreme views | Seeing a poster or graffiti in your local area displaying extreme views | Clicking a link to a website sharing extreme views | Seeing a social media post displaying extreme views |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very or fairly confident | 68% | 66% | 52% | 48% | 42% | 50% |
| Not at all or not very confident | 24% | 25% | 37% | 40% | 44% | 37% |
| Don’t know | 8% | 8% | 12% | 12% | 14% | 13% |