Word: populars
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...with a general election looming next spring, there may be little chance that even softer cost-control measures such as those will be implemented, according to Appleby, who says the NHS is one of Britain's sacred cows. "Politicians know the NHS is incredibly popular, so they wouldn't dare propose cuts this close to an election, even though debt will eventually force the government to either raise taxes or cut public services or both," he says. The incumbent Labour Party has already been projecting itself as the party that saved the NHS from years of neglect under Margaret Thatcher...
...patience might not be enough, according to a report published Sept. 7 by a panel of European grandees. Chaired by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator, the Independent Commission on Turkey says some E.U. leaders are mining popular fears over the specter of Turkish membership. "Attacks on the E.U.-Turkey process [have become] a proxy for popular concerns about immigration, worries about jobs, fears of Islam and a general dissatisfaction with the E.U.," the report says. "Negative statements by some European leaders ... and obstacles...
...biggest obstacle remains public opinion. A poll last year revealed that only 31% of Europeans back Turkish membership and in the June European Parliament elections Turkey proved a popular punching bag for parties looking to gain votes, with candidates pledging to veto the country's membership. The current economic downturn is another factor, making the E.U. reluctant to take on another country struggling under recession. "The economic crisis has certainly made things worse in Europe," says Sevket Pamuk, professor of Turkish Studies at the London School of Economics. "For membership to occur, Turkey needs to change, but the current political...
...Independent Commission on Turkey report says E.U. leaders should start by challenging popular prejudice, instead of pandering to it. For an example of how popular opinion can change it includes a revealing statistic from the past: in 1954, 51% of French people told pollsters that they had a negative view of the German people and only 29% thought a Franco-German alliance would work. Now, both those countries are standing together in the way of a similar deal with Turkey...
...lives to the relationship with Japan. Countless Americans drive a Japanese car or use Japanese consumer electronics. At the same time, anyone who remembers the depth of anti-Japanese feeling over trade issues in the 1980s will need no reminding that familiarity with Japanese goods does not translate into popular political support for Japanese interests...