ComRes find that David Cameron is more trusted than Gordon Brown to be honest about spending cuts

Today's Daily Politics commissioned an opinion poll from ComRes to seek the public's attitudes to issues associated with spending cuts.

Here are the key findings:

• 39% think David Cameron is more open and honest about the need to cut public spending in order to reduce the level of national debt, compared to 25% who think the same of Gordon Brown (25% said "neither" and 11% said "don’t know";
• David Cameron leads Gordon Brown on this measure across all social groups, including groups C2 and DE;
• Nearly twice as many people say the Conservatives would be better than say they would be worse than Labour at managing public finances (28% to 15%), although 48% think they’d be the same as Labour;
• 65% of people would not support cuts in public spending on things like schools and hospitals to reduce the level of national debt;
• 39% think that public sector workers including doctors, nurses and police officers should accept a pay freeze "given the current state of the nation’s finances";
• 67% are not prepared to pay higher taxes in order to reduce the level of national debt, with those most likely to accept the need for higher taxes coming from groups A and B;
• 42% will credit the Government’s rescue package if the economy starts to grow again before the next election, including 48% of C2s and 46% of DEs.

ComRes surveyed a random sample of 1,009 people by telephone on 7th and 8th July.

Jonathan Isaby