There's never been a better time for the Government to be pro-capitalist You would never have guessed it, given the generally low regard in which the City is held by the public these days, but Britain is becoming a more economically conservative nation, with growing opposition to welfare and redistribution and an increasing belief in self-reliance. The Government is still borrowing one pound out of every five it is spending, with the underlying budget deficit likely to hit 130bn this year Photo: Alamy It is an astonishing transformation, one that is chronicled in detail by the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, which has been polling the public on a range of questions for the past 29 years. The cultural revolution set in motion by Margaret Thatcher remains in full swing, posing a major threat to those on the Left convinced that the country is ready for a fresh dose of collectivism. But the situation is not exactly rosy for free-marketeers either. As ever, the British don't fit into neat ideological boxes. The BSA survey shows that just 37pc of the public support income redistribution, a devastating reality check for Labour's taxers and spenders -- but other polls also show that most people back the nihilistic 50p tax rate and want to hurt the rich. There are other contradictions. An Ipsos Mori survey showed that just 4pc of the public are proud of British business, even though another from the Royal Society of Arts showed record numbers, including almost a third