How income affects your trust in the 'establishment'

A gulf in the degree of public trust in Government, business and the media has opened up between the haves and have-nots in British society, an influential annual survey of public attitudes has revealed.

The findings highlight a stark and widening divide in outlooks between the rich and the poor - which may shed light on the popularity in some quarters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's "new politics".

The Edelman Trust Barometer, which divides respondents into the "Informed Publics" (universityeducated, high earners with a declared interest in politics and news) and the rest, found that the disparity in trust levels between the two groups had doubled in a year.

Better-off Britons see it as almost the best of times; those who have suffered more through austerity see it as closer to being the worst of times.

• Ed Williams, UK chief executive of Edelman

Among the wealthier and better-educated there was a 57 per cent trust in UK institutions, but among poorer respondents this fell to 40 per cent. The gap was notably stark on the question of Europe, with 61 per cent of the Informed Publics wanting to stay in the European Union, compared with only 34 per cent in poorer households.