News

The countries the British public thinks we should be biggest allies with

The British public considers Saudi Arabia bigger allies than Syria and Iran, despite thinking that the kingdom has a worse human rights record.

A YouGov survey of 1,779 British adults between 5 and 6 January showed that Conservative and Liberal Democrat supporters were more likely to view the kingdom as an ally.

Overall the public was most likely to suggest the US as a country with which to have friendly relations.

Isis was by far the group that most indicated the UK should be unfriendly towards, with Ukip the most opposed to the group. Oddly, three per cent of Ukip voters thought we should be friendly to the terrorist group, as well as three per cent of Labour, two per cent of Conservatives and one per cent of Liberal Democrats.

Of the countries surveyed, France was seen to have the greatest human rights record, while two per cent of Ukip supporters saw Isis as having a "good" human rights record.

The Liberal Democrats were most condemnatory of Isis' record, with 95 per cent saying it was "bad".

Ukip supporters were most likely to describe Saudi Arabia's record as poor, with 88 per cent doing so, with Liberal Democrats next most likely to (87 per cent).

Labour supporters were least likely to condemn Saudi Arabia's record, with only 79 per cent doing so.

The Conversation (0)
x