Boris Johnson’s coronavirus lockdown is backed by 93 PER CENT of the public, poll finds – but two-thirds think it will be EASY to follow draconian ‘social distancing’ rules
- Boris Johnson announced an extreme UK coronavirus lockdown last night
- Poll has found 93 per cent of the public are in favour of the tough restrictions
- But ominously two-thirds of the public think it will be easy to follow the rules
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Boris Johnson’s coronavirus lockdown is backed by 93 per cent of Britons, according to a poll today.
But in a potentially worrying sign for the PM, two-thirds believe that the extraordinary curbs will be easy to obey.
The announcement by the PM last night mean that everyone must stay inside unless it is absolutely essential.
Gatherings of more than two people have been banned in the most dramatic restrictions on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war.
But research by YouGov shows the measures have overwhelming endorsement from the public.
Boris Johnson’s coronavirus lockdown is backed by 93 per cent of Britons, according to a YouGov poll today
The snap poll taken in the wake of Mr Johnson’s dramatic address to the nation found 76 per cent ‘strongly support’ the steps.
Another 17 per cent are ‘somewhat’ in favour – with just four per cent voicing opposition. The remaining three per cent said they were not sure.
The curbs are set to last initially for three weeks, although the government’s own experts have warned the crisis could continue for a year.
They are shutting down huge swathes of the economy, banning people from seeing their families, and cancelling normal life as we know it.
However, some 24 per cent thought it will be ‘very easy’ to follow the rules.
And another 42 per cent said it would be ‘fairly easy’.
Just under a third suggested it would be hard or very hard, while three per cent said they did not know, and two per cent suggested they do not intend to follow the rules.
Mr Johnson said police will be given powers to impose fines and disperse public gatherings. But the poll showed Britons were split 39 per cent to 39 per cent over whether that will be enough.
YouGov, which polled 2,788 British adults overnight, said there was little variation in support levels between different age groups or genders.
In a grim address to the nation from Downing Street last night, Mr Johnson said: ‘Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won’t be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses’, adding: ‘I must give the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay at home’.
He said any family reunions, weddings, baptisms and other social events must be cancelled to stop the NHS collapsing under the strain. Funerals can go ahead attended by just a handful of closest relatives.
People must only leave their homes for essential supplies, medical help, or to travel to work if it is ‘absolutely’ unavoidable. Going out for exercise will be allowed once a day, but parks will be patrolled to make sure there is no abuse of the rules.
Police will have powers to fine those who do not fall into line, and disperse any public gatherings, in measures to curb movement only seen during the Second World War. Historians have claimed you have to go back to 1666 to find when people were last forced to stay at home en masse, when Britons had to stay at home for 40 days to halt the spread of the Great Plague.
The PM was finally forced into the draconian move amid fury that many people are still flouting ‘social distancing’ guidance, with parks and Tube trains in London – regarded as the engine of the UK outbreak – still busy despite repeated pleas.