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Coronavirus: Most Britons think government does not have a clear plan, poll finds

Only 20 per cent of adults back Boris Johnson’s strategy, according to a snap Yougov survey

Peter Stubley
Monday 12 October 2020 22:36 BST
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PM announces three-tier Covid-19 restriction system: Round Up

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Almost two thirds of Britons think the government does not have a clear plan to tackle coronavirus, according to a new survey.

The snap Yougov poll was carried out after prime minister Boris Johnson announced the new three-tier lockdown system for England.

Intended to "standardise" the different rules currently in place across the country, the scheme divides regions into "medium", "high" or "very high" alert levels.

The top tier - which currently includes Liverpool and six local authorities in the Merseyside area - will see bans on household mixing and closures of pubs and other hospitality businesses.

However only 20 per cent of British adults said they think the government has a clear plan on how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, with 64 per cent saying the government did not have a clear plan and the remaining 16 per cent replying "Don't know".

Even Tory voters are critical of the strategy, with 45 per cent of them saying the government does not have a clear plan.

A majority of British adults - 40 per cent - say the new measures do not go far enough, while 15 per cent say they go too far. Just 19 per cent think the measures "get the balance right".

Asked whether the lockdown restrictions should be local or national, most people (57 per cent) said the rules should be different from one area to another depending on the number of coronavirus cases.

Less than a third (31 per cent) said the rules should be the same across the whole of each country in the UK.

And while all regions backed the decision to stick with local restrictions, the North and Scotland were less certain compared to the rest of Great Britain.

In the North 48 per cent were in favour of local lockdowns compared to 39 per cent in favour of national rules, compared to the South with 67 per cent to 25 per cent.

The online poll was carried out on 2,973 adults shortly after the prime minister finished his statement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

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