Osborne 'out of touch' with ordinary people, poll says

Hannah Kuchler

More than half of British people think George Osborne, the chancellor, is "out of touch" and "too posh" to understand the financial problems affecting ordinary people, according to a poll. Only 25 per cent of the 2,014 respondents agreed that the chancellor was leading the country's economy in the right direction, said the survey commissioned by the Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror newspapers. The ComRes poll came days after Mr Osborne unveiled a £100bn package - dubbed plan A-plus - designed to help the British economy weather a "eurozone debt storm", which the coalition has staked its reputation on. Some 48 per cent say the chancellor has made too many mistakes to be taken seriously, following a series of embarrassing U-turns on policies such as the "pasty tax" and charity tax relief, which were announced in March's Budget. Mr Osborne, who is a multimillionaire, has been criticised by one backbencher, Nadine Dorries, for being - along with David Cameron, the prime minister - one of "two arrogant posh boys" who do not know the price of milk. More than half of respondents agreed that the chancellor came across as arrogant. Dissatisfaction with Mr Osborne was spread fairly evenly across different regions, age groups and social classes. The most fed up with the chancellor are Scottish, middle aged and at the lower end of the income scale. The survey gives Labour a 10-point lead over the Conservatives, one point more than a similar survey last month. Based on these results, the opposition would win a 110-seat majority at the next general election. Hannah Kuchler Politics