Coronavirus: Most people don’t trust UK government’s advice on when it is safe to resume normal life, poll finds

Two-fifths of people say UK has handled the crisis badly

More than half of the UK does not trust the government’s advice on when it is safe to return to work, school and leisure activities, a new poll suggests.

The survey by King’s College London and Ipsos Mori found that 52 per cent of British adults aged 16 to 75 were sceptical about the relaxation of lockdown.

It also showed that more people thought the coronavirus crisis had been handled badly in the UK (42 per cent) than believed it has been handled well (36 per cent).

However, a breakdown of the figures revealed a partisan divide in opinion, with Labour voters three times more likely than Conservative voters to believe the response was mismanaged.

Of those who thought the pandemic was handled badly, 70 per cent blamed the government and 65 per cent blamed Boris Johnson. More than half blamed fellow members of the public who were not following official guidance.

By contrast, only 15 per cent found the government’s scientific advisers responsible for the mismanagement of the crisis.

And nearly half (49 per cent) said they now trusted scientists more because of their role during the pandemic.

More people supported than opposed the government’s current approach to controlling coronavirus, the poll found.

Conservative voters were much more likely to blame the scientific advisors to the government (32 per cent against 12 per cent) and global health organisations like the WHO (29 per cent against 8 per cent).

“It’s very much back to politics as usual when it comes to how Britons feel Covid-19 has been handled,” said Kelly Beaver, managing director of public affairs at Ipsos MORI.

“The ‘all in this together’ sentiment from the start of the crisis in March is well and truly over. What both sides of the partisan divide can agree on, though, is that the NHS has done best at handling Covid-19.

“We also see that despite some concerns in the media about support for government measures falling, less than a third of people oppose the UK government’s current approach to controlling coronavirus.”

Asked who or what was responsible for the crisis being handled well, 72 per cent chose the NHS, 51 per cent chose the UK public following the guidance, and 46 per cent chose the government’s scientific advisers.

“People see the UK public as a key reason it’s gone well – and a key reason it’s gone badly, showing how varied an image we have of how different people have followed the guidelines, or not,” said Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London.

The poll also revealed that while a majority thought the UK was in decline (54 per cent), many were are optimistic that the pandemic could be a fresh start for the country (66 per cent).

Another effect of the pandemic was that Britons were more likely to say their view of the US had worsened (67 per cent) than they were to say the same of China (57 per cent).

The study was based on 2,237 interviews with UK residents aged between 16 and 75, and was carried out online between 17 and 20 July 2020.