Brits are far more liberal on drugs, abortion and homosexuality than a generation ago, research reveals – The Sun

BRITS today are far more liberal than a generation ago – with views on drugs, abortion and homosexuality transforming, research today reveals.

Just 13 per cent of Brits now think gay relationships are wrong, down from 40 per cent in 1989.

The proportion who thinks ‘soft drug’ use is immoral has halved from 60 per cent to 29 per cent, according to the research by Kings College.

While the number who think abortion is morally wrong has halved from 35 per cent to 18 per cent over the 30 years.

And Brits today are far less likely to be outraged by X-rated telly than previous generations.

The proportion who think it is immoral for men to bare all on TV has plummeted from 39 per cent to 23 per cent.

Just a fifth (22 per cent) of Brits today disapprove of soft porn mags in shops, whereas a generation ago the figure stood at 38 per cent.

LIBERAL TRANSFORMATION

The death penalty has seen one of the biggest changes. It is viewed as morally wrong by 37 per cent of the public now – up from 22 per cent in 1989.

Professor Bobby Duffy, boss Policy Institute at King’s College London, said baby boomers have led the liberal transformation of Britain.

He said: “These findings show Britain has become decisively more liberal on a range of moral issues in the last 30 years.

“That we’ve gone from being a country in which four in ten thought gay relationships were not just wrong but immoral, and in which only half thought gay people should be treated just like anyone else, to the society we see today, all in the space of a few decades, shows just how much attitudes can change.

“On all sorts of issues, from full frontal male nudity and violence on TV, to drug use and abortion, we are much more relaxed as a nation.

“One of the causes of this shift is that Baby Boomers – who grew up in more permissive times – have moved into older age, replacing a generation born before World War II, who had more conservative views.”

Researchers carried out over 1,450 interviews on 1989 and over 1,000 more in 2019, and compared the findings.

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