Brits more divided over lockdown rules than Brexit, poll finds

One in seven people who adhere to Covid restrictions say they ‘hate’ those who don’t

Brexit
(Image credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Social tensions in Britain over measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic are now deeper than those over the decision to leave the European Union, new polling suggests.

The nationwide survey of more than 10,000 people found that half of mask-wearers in the UK (58%) have “severely negative attitudes towards non-mask wearers”. And most people (68%) who do not break lockdown rules have “strong negative views” about those who flout the regulations, according to the research by think tank Demos.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.