Lockdown is ‘even more divisive than Brexit’ according to research

Since 2016, British political debate has largely and frustratingly focused on Brexit. For brief periods in the last 5 years, it felt like every pub conversation, every family gathering, every situation where more than 4 people were talking, always led back to Brexit. It was a tiring, irritating state of affairs that frankly went on for far too long. But thanks to the current global pandemic and the government's handling of it, it looks like we're set for another unending period of of divisive debate. According to a new nationwide poll of 10,000 people by Demos, 58% of people that wear masks 'have severely negative attitudes' towards people who flout face-covering rules and two thirds of people who did not break lockdown strongly dislike those who broke the rules when lockdown was at its peak. The hate between groups that the research uncovered is more vitriolic than the polling between those on different sides of the Brexit coin. Only around 30% of remainers think leavers are bad people compared with nearly 70% of lockdown rule followers saying they hated rule breakers or thought they were bad people.. Polly Mackenzie, chief executive of Demos told the Guardian: “We are still just as angry with each other, but about different things...People’s experience has been so divergent. What has been good for one person has been awful for someone else. “Our ability to understand each other has been put under strain.. Social trust is really important for economic growth, so even if you only care about growth, the country has to be able to get along with each other. Being divided will impact on our recovery.”