How well do people in the UK understand the Government's plan to deal with energy prices?

When Professor Tom Scotto from the University of Glasgow and colleagues presented four options about the energy price cap and bills to 617 people, 32% of them chose the wrong answer. Of those who gave an incorrect answer, more than 90% thought there will be a strict price cap of £2,500 this year.

Those who got it wrong were perhaps misled – from the very top. Trying to distract from the disastrous rollout of the 'mini-budget', the then prime minister Liz Truss repeatedly tried to focus on an element of government fiscal policy likely to be more popular with voters – her plan to address skyrocketing energy costs.

The survey, fielded between October 18 and 20, forms part of a wider project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, in which the researchers hope to find out how people's trust in the government and its policies affects their intention to support and comply with policies during the post COVID-19 recovery phase.

They also wanted to see if there was any evidence those individuals have different expectations in terms of their energy bills, and whether partisan groups differed in their responses based on how participants said they voted in the 2019 general election. 

See more about this work on The Conversation website

First published: 14 November 2022

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