The public feel significant uncertainty about the government’s strategy to tackle the coronavirus and are sceptical about the coherence and speed of its response, a new survey has found.

Over two-thirds of the public think the government acted too slowly to control the spread of coronavirus, according to the survey carried out last week by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Policy Institute at King’s College London.

Quick guide UK lockdown: what are the coronavirus restrictions? Show Hide What do the restrictions involve? People in the UK will only be allowed to leave their home for the following purposes: Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible

One form of exercise a day – for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household

Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person

Travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home Police will have the powers to enforce the rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings. To ensure compliance with the instruction to stay at home, the government will: Close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship

Stop all gatherings of more than two people in public – excluding people you live with

Stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals Parks will remain open for exercise, but gatherings will be dispersed.

The survey also found that more than 40% of respondents believe the government’s response to the crisis has been confused and inconsistent, with only 30% disagreeing and supporting the government.

Just one in four of the 2,250 respondents said they trust the information provided by the government ‘a great deal’, with only one in five saying they strongly agree that the official advice has been effective.

Nearly one-in-six (16%) workers taking part in the survey also said that they had either lost their job, or were “certain” or “very likely” to lose it as a result of disruption caused by the virus.

Another 14% of respondents said they were “fairly likely” to lose their jobs: bringing the total of possible job losses to 30%.

This is greater than estimates by David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in the US, who has said that UK unemployment could rise to more than 6 million people, about 21% of the entire workforce.

Blanchflower, who was also a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee during the 2008 financial crash, said the rise in unemployment looked to be at least 10 times faster than in the recession triggered by that crisis.

The King’s College survey also found however that a majority of people (58%) think the government has adapted well to the changing scientific information and situation. Almost 90% support the lockdown measures while 81% support the increased powers given to police.

Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute, said: “The government’s recent stricter actions are viewed very positively, much more so than their overall strategy, with people likely to think the approach has been confused and inconsistent.

“This is likely to partly relate to the strong impression among many that the original aim was to achieve ‘herd immunity’ – although there is now greater sense that the overriding objective is to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed,” he added.

Kelly Beaver, managing director of public affairs at Ipsos Mori, said: “These results show that while there is broad support for the government measures and clearly people are getting the main message, there is still confusion about many of the details, so there is a real need for the government to continue to emphasise communicating with the public, repeatedly and clearly.”

The most recent employment check in Britain from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (Cips) for the manufacturing and service sector, which makes up the vast majority of UK growth, showed it crashed to 36.0 in March on a scale where anything above 50.0 separates growth from contraction. Down sharply from 53.0 in February, the reading was the worst since records began in 1996.

Duncan Brock, group director at Cips, said: “The likelihood of a global recession is now a given, though its duration and severity has yet to reveal itself.”



