Can Britain pull back from the brink? Voters rank the four issues DESTROYING the country

Illegal immigration 

The vast majority of respondents (80 per cent) attribute Britain’s current ills to illegal immigration – a problem that successive governments have failed to address.

The numbers speak for themselves. Nearly 5,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel since Sir Keir was handed the keys to Downing Street, GB News can exclusively reveal.

The Tories’ record wasn’t much better. Despite vowing to crack down on illegal crossings for more than a decade, more boats arrived this year than for the same period in any of the previous four years.

The Conservatives’ newly-scrapped Rwandan scheme infuriated voters further still, costing £270million without a single migrant boarding a flight.

Long-simmering resentments recently came to a head after misinformation circulated on social media about the identity of the Southport stabber.

The willful destruction of property and threats to public safety have rightly been condemned but many commentators are also calling for an honest conversation about what’s fuelling the riots.

One of them is trade unionist Paul Embery, who tells GB News that fury over illegal immigration tracks along class lines and geography.

The “liberal Hampstead brigade”, as Paul refers to the cosmopolitan elite, has no truck with working-class people, many of whom live in areas that are battling the twin threats of deindustrialisation and rapid demographic change.

The anger we are seeing in our towns and cities has been decades in the making, Paul explains, with the “brakes coming off” under former prime minister Tony Blair.

This is a widely held sentiment outside of the M25. Dave, 60, grew up in Basildon, Essex, and spent many years living in nearby Southend.

He now views both as “no-go areas” due to rampant crime fuelled by mass immigration. Multiculturalism “just doesn’t work”, he tells GB News.

It is important to note the distinction between legal and illegal migration. However, one respondent to our poll claims “You can’t separate the two”, adding: “Once immigration is halted all the other problems are resolved. NHS waiting lists, school places, doctors appointments, housing shortage, economy, social cohesion all gradually return to normal levels.”

Not everyone agrees with this. Gez from Peterborough tells GB News that Britain is in dire need of skilled migration.

The hotel owner says many local businesses are struggling to recruit staff and the paperwork that has come in since Brexit means it can cost “thousands” to get two or three workers from the continent.

The 57-year-old strongly believes illegal immigration would come down if we improve the processes for skilled immigration, and it would also ease anti-immigrant sentiments in communities as locals would see the tangible benefits to the economy.

Generous welfare state 

More than 10 per cent of respondents claimed a generous welfare state is to blame for Britain’s ills.

The country’s social safety net has long divided the country along party lines, with the left hailing its creation as an essential tool for eradicating poverty and hardship, while the right claims that it has created a culture of dependency.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. What everyone can agree on is that the system is in urgent need of reform in the face of an ageing and rapidly expanding population.

It’s also a drain on the public purse – the UK is forecast to spend £315.8billion on welfare benefits this year alone.

Unlike many European countries, the UK does not provide earnings-related unemployment benefits, making its system less supportive for workers facing job loss.

However, the UK is relatively more generous when it comes to housing and family benefits.

This and other features have made it fiendishly difficult to distinguish between the genuinely disadvantaged and the work-shy.

Months before he was ejected from office, Rishi Sunak announced a raft of reforms aimed at improving this system.

The former PM pledged to strip people of their benefits after 12 months if they were fit to work and not accepting job offers.

It is unclear how Labour plans to tackle this headwind. It’s planning a review of the benefits system, although, admittedly, details are woolly at this stage.

What is clear from our polling is that reform is urgently needed to change the stigma around the welfare state, with one angry respondent telling GB News that the “overly generous” safety net is the “root cause” of Britain’s problems.

Another respondent raged at what they perceive as the unfairness baked into the system, alleging that it has “created most of the problems in this country, including attracting millions of foreigners coming to claim it”.

Others fear that it’s leading to perverse incentives, particularly among the young.

During a talk about apprenticeships at a local school, business owner Gez was shocked when a 15-year-old put his hand up and said: “Why would be interested? We can get more money signing on.”