LabourList readers oppose Budget surplus and Syria airstrikes

In recent week the Labour leadership team have signed up to George Osborne’s proposal for the government to run a budget surplus in “normal times”. Most recently, Chris Leslie reiterated Labour’s support for this idea.

What do LabourList readers this?

The majority disagree with the stance; 54% said that it wasn’t right for Labour to aim to run a budget surplus in “normal times.”

18 points behind are those who are in favour of this policy. 36% said that this was the right thing to do, while 11% weren’t sure.

Last week it also looked like Labour could vote in favour of airstrikes against ISIS in Syria if it were to come to before the Commons. But leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn has already expressed his opposition to these proposals.

The vote is split more-or-less along the same lines as the Budget questions, with LabourList readers largely opposed to action. 56% said that Labour shouldn’t support airstrikes, while 36% say they should. 9% said they don’t know.

When LabourList asked readers about supporting action against Assad’s forces in Syria ahead of the Commons vote in August 2013, a majority were against action – and Labour MPs subsequently voted the motion down. However, last September, readers supported strikes against ISIS in Iraq, and there was a potential for support against further action in Syria if a UN Security Council Resolution sanctioned it.

Finally, Labour also look set to back Heathrow expansion, which will mean that a third runway is built at the London airport. Harriet Harman last week confirmed that the party would accept the recommendations of the Davies Report, so long as they met a series of environmental targets. There has been vocal criticism of this from London-based MPs John McDonnell, Andy Slaughter and Rupa Huq, whose constituencies are likely to be affected.

Despite this criticism, 33% of LabourList readers think that the party should support expansion. But very close behind is the opposition camp – 31% think Labour shouldn’t support expansion. With 26% supporting expansion at another airport, there is a fairly even split among readers. 10% said they didn’t know.

1,072 people voted in this week’s survey. Thankyou to everyone who took part.