Brits 'most scared' of terror

2005-11-02 08:24

Johannesburg - United Kingdom respondents showed the highest rate of fear in the world regarding recurring terrorist attacks, a global survey revealed on Tuesday.

Nine out of 10 UK respondents said in a Synovate survey that they expected another terrorist incident after they were jolted by the public transport bombings in July.

"This is the highest among all markets which took part in the study," said Synovate spokesperson John Surrey.

A majority of UK and Indonesian respondents - 60% and 80% respectively - said they now looked twice at other passengers on public transport.

Seizing the day

Roughly a third of respondents in these countries said they had minimised or stopped taking public transport.

Surrey said the research confirmed that residents in countries which had been under terrorist attack worried more about a possible recurrence.

"It is clear that the London bombings have heightened fears of another attack in the near future," noted Chris Dubreuil, research director at Synovate ViewsNet UK.

"As a result, the UK public do not feel as safe as they used to and have changed their behaviour, heeding the government's message of vigilance."

Six out of 10 French feel similarly unsettled.

"The fact that the findings show 84% of French people anticipate a domestic terrorist attack is unsurprising," said Stephane Courqueux, from Synovate's Paris office.

"The UK and Spain have seen attacks over the past 18 months - it may only be a matter of time until we see something similar on French soil."

This view is mirrored on the other side of the Atlantic, where Americans continue to be on their collective guard, said Synovate's Larry Levin.

"They claim to have made some lifestyle changes to be better prepared for an attack."

Levin said the "terror of 9/11, coupled with the bombings in London, have led the vast majority of Americans to agree that their country is susceptible to another violent attack".

"At least 84% of Americans fear a terrorist attack on the US in the near future. Importantly, only one in four Americans believe we are ready to respond," he said.

In India, where people have lived through the attack on the Indian Parliament four years ago, decades-long strikes on holy shrines and assorted bomb blasts, 82% of respondents fear a repeat incident, yet three-quarters said their country could handle it.

In the survey, 77% of UK respondents said they did not feel as safe as they used to.

They were followed by the Americans (66%) and the Germans (64%).

"The way terrorism, just like personal tragedy, changes people's lives forever is highlighted by the heightened sense of carpe diem," said Surrey.

"Six out of 10 Americans said they lived more for today knowing anything could happen tomorrow."

- SAPA