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Exclusive poll: Two-thirds of Britons think coronavirus restrictions do not go far enough

A police officer enters a bar on Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London on Friday night to ask members of the public to leave - Ben Cawthra/LNP
A police officer enters a bar on Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London on Friday night to ask members of the public to leave - Ben Cawthra/LNP
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

Almost two-thirds of people believe the Government's latest Covid-19 restrictions do not go far enough, a poll reveals.

A survey of more than 2,000 adults found that 63 per cent believed that the measures taken last week fell short of the action that should have been taken.

Some 51 per cent of respondents favoured closing gyms and beauty salons now to lower the rate of coronavirus infections.

The findings chime with internal polling that has led ministers to believe that the priority for many members of the public is to see the pandemic brought under control.

However, they contrast with concerns raised by many Conservative MPs about the extent of restrictions.

One senior Tory claimed that the public had been driven to backing "authoritarian" measures having been made "fearful" by government warnings about the threat posed by Covid-19.

Boris Johnson faces a rebellion over the Government's approach to the pandemic, with MPs expressing concern that ministers are introducing curbs to basic freedoms without Parliament having a sufficient say.

The ORB International survey was carried out after Boris Johnson announced a raft of new measures including a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants, a 15-person cap on weddings and a return to working at home for office workers, which are likely to remain in place until March, a year on from the start of lockdown.

2709 Covid Poll on measures
2709 Covid Poll on measures

Of 2,087 people surveyed by ORB last week, 83 per cent said they were worried about a second wave of Covid-19 "hitting the UK hard".

Asked whether the measures taken last week went far enough, 63 per cent said they did not, while 24 per cent indicated that the restrictions were sufficient.

Some 51 per cent said that the Government should close gyms and beauty salons - some of the last venues to re-open following the lockdown - while 34 per cent disagreed.

Only 13 per cent of respondents said that they believed the spread of the virus in the UK was under control - a drop from 33 per cent in late May.

Meanwhile, fewer than a third (28 per cent) of respondents strongly agreed that their colleagues and friends were following the rules on wearing face coverings, while some 12 per cent suggested that their acquaintances were largely failing to abide by the rules.

Only 31 per cent of respondents said the Government was handling the pandemic "well" compared to 63 per cent who disagreed.

On Friday, Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, raised the spectre of further potential restrictions in the capital, after the city was added to the national Covid "watch list".

Amid rising infections across the UK, 620 new cases were confirmed in London on Friday.

In a televised address on Tuesday night, the Prime Minister said the latest national measures were necessary to prevent a second national lockdown which would involve school closures, saying: “We must do all we can to avoid going down that road again.”

The ORB survey was carried out online on Wednesday and Thursday.