The Sunday Telegraph

Trusting, dissenting, frustrated: Britain divided into three tribes over lockdown

- By Phoebe Southworth

THE country is dividing into tribes of “the trusting”, “the dissenting” and “the frustrated” as lockdown eases, an analysis has revealed.

Factions are forming in the population, each with a distinct level of fear of Covid-19 and degree of faith in the Government to handle the pandemic, researcher­s at King’s College London have concluded.

While people are equally split between the “trusting” and “dissenting” groups (38 per cent each), 24 per cent are part of the ‘“frustrated” tribe, analysis of an Ipsos MORI survey of more than 2,000 UK residents reveals.

These emerging schools of thought were underpinne­d by whether people vote Labour or Conservati­ve, and if they are Brexiteers or Remainers, the researcher­s said. The “trusting” group are mainly Brexit-supporting Conservati­ve voters who are concerned about the health impacts of the virus and are most likely to trust the Government’s decisions on exiting lockdown. The majority support the relaxation measures announced so far and think the authoritie­s are doing a good job, but still worry about restrictio­ns being lifted too quickly. In contrast, the “dissenting” tribe are primarily Labourvoti­ng Remainers who are the most worried about health risks. They are also the most critical of the Government’s response. Just four per cent think the Government has done a good job of protecting people, and 90 per cent think the lockdown is being lifted too quickly.

The “frustrated” tribe are similar to the “trusting” in that they are mainly Conservati­ves who voted for Brexit, but when it comes to health risks they are far less concerned and are eager for restrictio­ns to be lifted more quickly.

They are the group most likely to be negatively impacted by the lockdown in terms of employment and finances, and think the dissenters are exaggerati­ng the threat posed by the virus.

Dr Daniel Allington, senior lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligen­ce at King’s College London, said: “The size of the trusting group shows that many people will follow the Government’s lead even if they are personally afraid. But as the social costs of lockdown continue to grow and a vaccine remains a distant hope, it will become more difficult to choose between the contradict­ory demands of the dissenting and the frustrated.”

Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, added: “We went into the lockdown incredibly unified, with nine in 10 people supporting the measures – but we’re becoming much more divided on the way out. Our views are aligning more clearly with our underlying political identities.”

‘The size of the trusting group shows how many follow the Government’s lead even if they are afraid’

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