WE’RE STILL BACKING BORIS BUT THINK THE LOCKDOWN WAS LATE

THOUSANDS HAVE SAY

WELL over two-thirds of people in Greater Manchester believe the lockdown was introduced too late, according to the biggest survey of its kind – but, so far, they still think Boris Johnson is doing well overall.

Most people here would be willing to pay more tax in order to help the economy recover, even though almost half had seen a drop in income during the lockdown.

More than one in three say they have suffered anxiety during the pandemic, while most had been cooking, eating healthily and exercising more – as well as boozing.

The Great Big Lockdown Survey, powered by doopoll.co, posed 40 questions to readers about their lives during the pandemic, with the results providing a fascinating snapshot of how our lives have changed and how we feel.

Nearly 20,000 people filled out the survey in Greater Manchester, part of a huge 400,000 who took part across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Here are some of its key findings, both here and elsewhere.

How the government is doing

Our survey found 70 per cent of people here feel the lockdown itself was introduced too late. But overall, they still feel the government is doing reasonably well.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty receives the highest rating of the senior figures put to readers, scoring an approval score of 7.3 out of 10, followed by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, at 6.8, and Boris Johnson at 6.2. In all cases, their scores averaged as ‘good.’

However, approval varies significantly across the country. Scotland rated the prime minister ‘poor’ – Glasgow scoring him 3.8 and Edinburgh 4 – while Liverpool handed him the lowest score in England, at 4.7.

Grimsby, meanwhile, was the most supportive, marking Johnson 7.5 out of 10.

Similarly, feelings about the lockdown vary significantly.

In Ireland, most people felt their own government had introduced the lockdown – which came in several weeks before ours – at the right time.

But in every part of the UK, the majority felt Johnson had enforced it too late.

Glasgow and Liverpool were the most critical, with 79pc expressing that view, while at the other end of the scale 61pc of people in Grimsby and Somerset felt that way.

In Greater Manchester, mayor Andy Burnham just beat health secretary Matt Hancock on personal ratings, with the former and current health secretaries scoring 5.8 and 5.7 respectively. The government as a whole also scored 5.8, meaning people felt all three were doing ‘OK.’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer scored 4.4 out of 10.

The NHS scored a massive 9.4, meanwhile, making healthcare workers the top-rated ‘heroes’ of the crisis – while emergency services as a whole scored 9.2, supermarket workers 9, delivery drivers 8.8 and community volunteer groups 7.8.

Money

In Greater Manchester, getting on for half of those who responded – 46pc – said their household income had dropped during the lockdown.

The most common reason was furlough, accounting for nearly half of those people, followed by having to close a business or take a pay cut, both of which applied to 11pc of those who had lost money. Over one in five of those who had taken a financial hit said their monthly income had more than halved during the lockdown.

Just under half of business owners, meanwhile, said they had applied for some kind of financial support but were still waiting for it.

Asked how confident they were that their firm would survive the outbreak, the average score was 5.5 out of 10.

Nevertheless, most respondents here – 51pc – would be willing to pay higher taxes on the other side of the immediate crisis, in order to help the economy bounce back.

Again, that figure varies across the UK and Ireland.

Just one in three people in Dublin were willing to pay higher taxes after the crisis, while 41pc of people in Belfast, 43pc in London and 47pc in Liverpool, Birmingham and Essex were prepared to do so.

The area most enthusiastic about paying more tax was Yorkshire, where 57pc were happy to cough up extra in order to fund the recovery. Nearly three-quarters of people in Greater Manchester – 72pc – thought the government should spend more on reviving the economy after the pandemic than they did on dealing with the 2008 financial crash.

Lifestyle

The survey provides a glimpse of how daily life has changed during the lockdown – and how people feel about it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Greater Manchester is cooking a lot more, while on average people are also eating slightly more healthily and exercising more, both inside and outside. We are also drinking slightly more – while speaking to family much more often.

For those with children, many are also struggling with the reality of work-life balance.

Some 40pc of people said ‘some

times home schooling works, sometimes it doesn’t,’ suggesting the exercise has been hit-and-miss – although 5pc of respondents said it was ‘impossible.’

The majority of parents said it was either ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to juggle work and childcare.

Meanwhile of the 39pc of people who said they were now working from home, a narrow majority would prefer to go back to the office.

People had found accessing advice on the pandemic ‘very easy,’ however, ranking ease of access 8.5 out of 10 – but supermarket deliveries were much more difficult, marked at just 3 out of 10.

The survey also shows people have taken the lockdown seriously where socialising is concerned. People in Greater Manchester were ‘very unlikely’ to sneak out to a pub if it were to secretly open on their street. Dubliners were the most enthusiastic about the idea, but, even then, they still said it was unlikely. Wellbeing

The findings suggest people have been emotionally affected by the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic – even if most feel it has caused their community to pull together.

People in Greater Manchester said they were very concerned about the outbreak. With a score of zero representing no fears at all and 10 representing the highest possible worry, the region averaged at 7.5.

It has taken its toll on mental health, too.

Since social distancing began, more than one in three people – 37pc – said they had experienced more anxiety than usual, while 22pc had felt more depressed and a fifth of people had been lonely. Meanwhile 40pc of people in a relationship said the lockdown had put it under strain, 9pc calling it a ‘big strain.’

The results suggest some positives too, however. Over a third of people surveyed said they had helped out either a family neighbour or a friend during the pandemic. And the majority of people – 57pc – said they believed the experience had brought their community closer together.