Four in 10 Britons believe Brexit boosted Britain's pandemic response

Christopher Hope
·2 min read
Britain’s vaccination rate is among the highest in the world after ministers decided last year not to be part of a EU vaccination scheme  - PA
Britain’s vaccination rate is among the highest in the world after ministers decided last year not to be part of a EU vaccination scheme - PA

Four in 10 Britons believe Brexit has made Britain’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic better, a new poll has found.

The study from Ipsos Mori found 40 per cent of adults thought that the UK’s decision to quit the European Union had helped its response to the crisis. Just 14 per cent thought Brexit had made it worse.

Britain’s vaccination rate is among the highest in the world after ministers decided last year not to be part of a EU vaccination scheme and instead go it alone to procure the necessary vaccines.

Two-thirds - 67 per cent - of Britons said they thought the UK has handled Covid vaccination programmes better than governments of countries in the EU.

This increased to 83 per cent of those who voted to leave the EU in 2016, but even 65 per cent of ‘Remain’ voters thought the same, aligning with national views.

There was more criticism over the way the UK Government has run lockdowns to suppress the spread of the virus.

The survey found that nearly four in 10 - 38 per cent - though national lockdowns were handled better by EU countries, only 28% believe the UK did the better job.

Looking further ahead, nearly half - 48 per cent - of Britons thought the COVID-19 pandemic and responses by the UK government and those of the EU have moved the UK and EU further apart

Kelly Beaver, managing director of Public Affairs at Ipsos Mori, said: “There is no denying that at the start of the pandemic we were all venturing into the unknown, the Government included, and it took heavy criticism of its initial actions, most notably its handling of PPE and the tragic death toll.

“However, our latest polling shows that despite these issues the British public feel that overall the Government have done well compared to its EU counterparts, no doubt a halo effect of the vaccination programme that has, to date, been incredibly successful.”

Ipsos Mori interviewed a representative sample of 2,385 British adults aged 16+. Interviews were conducted online from 12th to 15th March 2021.