More than 75 per cent of Britons think the taxpayer should not contribute to the cost of Pope Benedict XVI’s forthcoming visit to Scotland and England, according to a survey published today.

An online poll of 2,005 adults has shown 77% do not agree that the taxpayer should help shoulder the bill for the four-day trip even though it is a state visit.

A similar proportion – 76% – rejected taxpayer funding for the visit on the grounds that he is a religious figure.

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Paul Wolley, director of Theos, said: “The British public clearly has a problem with the funding of the papal visit, although this could be because they are unaware that in addition to being a religious leader Pope Benedict is also a head of state.”

He said only a relatively small proportion of people were actively opposed to the visit and the public was disengaged rather than hostile.

Mr Wolley said it was also striking that the public agreed so strongly with Pope Benedict’s social teaching, adding that it showed “real potential for the church to connect with the public”.

Andrew Copson, a spokesman for Protest the Pope and chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: “It is hardly news that a lot of people in Britain care about the environment, social responsibility and human rights – these are important shared values for religious and non-religious people alike in this country and we don’t need religious leaders to teach them to us.

“The Protest the Pope campaign is not against the Pope coming to the UK as a religious leader, with the religious organisation of which he is the head footing the bill.

“Our opposition is to the visit being a state visit, with the British people footing the bill. This poll makes clear that most people agree with us.”

Full article: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/britons-say-taxpayer-should-not-fund-popes-visit-14933547.html

The British Humanist Association is a founding member of the Protest the Pope campaign, demonstrating against the official nature of the Pope’s state visit. The Pope arrives next week.