Brexit helped UK’s pandemic response, say 40pc of Britons

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

The study from Ipsos MORI found 40 per cent of adults thought 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 best in the world after ministers decided last year not to be part of a EU vaccination scheme and instead go it alone to procure vaccines.

Two-thirds – 67 per cent – of Britons said they thought the UK had handled 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.

There was more criticism over the way the Government had run lockdowns to suppress the spread of the virus. The survey found that nearly four in 10 – 38 per cent – thought national lockdowns were handled better by EU countries; only 28 per cent believed the UK did the better job.

Looking ahead, nearly half – 48 per cent – of Britons thought the Covid-19 pandemic and responses by the Government and those of EU governments had 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 with 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 and over. Interviews were conducted online from March 12 to 15.