Government trust hits record lows

Addiction Economy thought for Today - mulling what it looks like in practice to put the public interest ahead of party politics - the belief that politicians put party before country is the reason behind record, low, levels of trust.

Interesting that trust levels of Leave voters went up after Brexit, because they felt politicians had listened and responded to what they thought important. These have now plummeted because it didn't turn out as they hoped, or were promised.

So Remainers, of which I am one, saw party politics as the driver (and still think we are right!) and Leavers feel swizzed, so trust levels fall all round. Three out of five of us might vote to rejoin.

The first question I ask on trust, which is often overlooked, is 'are they right to distrust for this reason, or is something else going on?' Often they are right and the cause of distrust is what needs to be addressed. This feels intuitively right here too and was also part of the reason Labour lost last time. They need to ensure it doesn't happen again.

So where does this lead us with The Addiction Economy in mind? It looks to us like the public is asking very pointed questions about how governments deal with social issues - like ill health, poverty, tech development and feel that the public interest is not prioritised.

We see with cigarettes a large majority now want action taken against the market to prevent ill health. Public concerns about unhealthy foods are increasing rapidly and demands for action against companies are growing, even when it means restricting food choices by law - with sugar and salt taxes.

Perhaps the tide is turning and citizen and political beliefs in the power and importance of 'the market' is beginning to shift.