Support for UK Airstrikes Against ISIL in Syria Likely to Increase

Although British citizens are now evenly split over the potential extension of UK military action against ISIL radicals, support for the airstrikes is likely to grow, a BMG Research poll revealed.

LONDON (Sputnik) – The poll was conducted for Evening Standard on November 11-17, among over 1,500 UK residents. Its results, released on Wednesday, show that exactly 50 percent of those surveyed are in favour of the United Kingdom extending the airstrikes to Syria, while the other 50 percent are against.

BMG Research said in a Wednesday release that support for the airstrikes was likely to increase.

"Some 59% of those who tend to trust government are in support of Syrian strikes, a figure which has risen to 80% since the attacks. On the other hand, support amongst those who tend to distrust government is lower, at just 46%, and has fallen slightly to 43% since Friday," Dr Michael Turner, Research Director at BMG Research, said as quoted in the release.

According to the BMG Research poll, about 56 percent of the women surveyed in the United Kingdom are in favour of extending the airstrikes. Young people tend to support anti-ISIL military action more – 64 percent of the polled people aged 18-24 said they were in favour of extending UK airstrikes to Syria.

Britain has been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIL) jihadists in Iraq since August 2014, but the UK Parliament rejected extending the campaign to Syria in a 2013 vote.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond suggested two weeks ago that a Parliament vote to send British jets to Syria would take place as soon as enough Labour Party members supported British airstrikes.