The United Kingdom plays a “dramatically diminished” role in confronting global problems compared with 20 years ago, according to public polling released to mark the anniversary of the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign.
The survey, carried out for the ONE Campaign, found only 14% of Britons believe their country is a global leader — compared with 35% two decades ago, when the United Kingdom’s leaders, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, put boosting aid and canceling debt center stage for its G8 presidency.
Yet three-quarters of Britons believe the U.K. should address worldwide challenges, the polling found, prompting a coalition of NGOs to call on the current prime minister, Keir Starmer, to revive the spirit of the 2005 campaign and make the U.K. “a true ally” of lower-income nations.