Please, let’s stay together...plea as Covid blitz spirit starts to crumble
BRITAIN’S battle with Covid-19 has brought people together but new divisions are emerging as the lockdown eases, a survey has revealed.
While the country is significantly less divided because of the pandemic, a strong initial feeling of community has started to fray and fragment.
Britons liked the togetherness that developed and want to keep hold of it, found a poll for /Together, which helped arrange the thank-you clap to mark the 72nd birthday of the NHS.
Forty-five per cent of those quizzed agreed the UK has never felt so divided, compared with 60 per cent at the start of the crisis.
Just six in 10 agreed we tend to dwell on differences rather than what we have in common – down from seven in 10 in March.
And 75 per cent agreed there is no substitute for interacting with people face-to-face as millions were affected by self-isolation.
But six in 10 thought people have lost the ability to discuss politics without getting angry and abusive.
Three-quarters believe people from different backgrounds get on well in their community – but that drops to 61 per cent at a national level.
The findings were revealed in a report by think-tank British Future.
The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, who chairs /Together’s board of trustees, said: “We are entering a period of deep economic uncertainty, one that will heighten existing inequalities and strain our society further still.
“We must start to disagree better: recognising and respecting our differences while remembering our common humanity and citizenship, with all the mutual obligations these demand of us.
“We want to find out how we keep hold of the new community spirit built up during lockdown and bridge the angry divisions of the past.”
Jill Rutter, of British Future, added: “There’s a risk that past divides are re-emerging. The shared experience of lockdown made many people feel more connected to their neighbours and local community. Now that sense of togetherness is starting to fray.
“The good news is that people would rather we kept hold of it .”
The findings have prompted a public consultation to seek ways of avoiding new divisions. People can still take part in the poll by visiting together.org.uk/survey.