Life Post COVID Survey Results
Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey last month. 5,416 people took part including:
- 1,375 members of Keep Britain Free
- 2,621 people who followed KBF on social media or used the website
- 1,420 people who do not follow KBF who will have seen retweets of the survey request.
The survey was designed to represent the views of people who are unhappy with decisions the UK government has taken in the past six months. It was designed to provide input into the House of Lords Life Post Covid committee appointed in June 2020 to “consider the long-term implications of the pandemic on the economic and societal wellbeing of the UK” (life in 2022 and beyond). The majority of replies were generated by two tweets sent out by Simon Dolan (founder of Keep Britain Free) and Leah Butler-Smith (who has spoken on behalf of Keep Britain Free in the media). We believe this is the most comprehensive survey of its kind at the present time.
People who completed the survey worked in a wide range of occupations, from beauticians to barristers. The largest job groups (each with at least 300 respondents) were Health/Nursing/Medical Care, Hospitality/Personal Services, IT/Digital, Finance/Property/Law and Education. It was good to see healthy levels of response from frontline workers, some of whom expressed concern about difficulties speaking up at work in light of the measures they were being asked to implement. A third were in the 45 to 54 age group, a third older than this, a third younger.
92% are extremely concerned about the ways in which the government has taken decisions in the past 6 months. When asked how decisions have been taken by the UK government in the past 6 months traditional values such as democratically, transparently, using due process, on the basis of sound scientific evidence and in interests of the people were absent. None of these scored more than 2%. These traditions have been replaced by procedures which are illogical (86%), inconsistent (79%), in secret (72%) and autocratic (60%). 98% agree we need to restore joy to life. 97% that the government will need to work hard to restore trust.
The sample included 1,652 people with children of school age. 94% of this group thought it was safe for children to return to school. Of those who thought school was unsafe 50 provided comments. In 38 cases concerns were driven by the measures. Only one respondent was concerned about Covid and a potential second wave.
The majority of respondents had experience health problems in the last 6 months such as stress or weight gain. When asked about future services from their local GP practice 76% wanted in person consultations, 74% a specific/named GP who I was able to see when I needed to do so.
Amongst those who were working (3,917 people) only half (48%) expected to be in the same kind of employment or business in 2022, 9% in a new job or different type of business, 35% were unsure. 7% expected to retire or be semi-retired.
Having undertaken this survey the researchers spoke to around 200 people on the streets of London over the bank holiday weekend. These were people from other groups who had organised a demonstration in Trafalgar Square and young people hanging around down Portobello Road on Sunday (when Carnival would normally have taken place). The anger, despair and loss of trust seen in the KBF survey was reflected in both of these groups. They too wanted to have fun. They too had lost trust in the government.
To download the full report click here
The survey was designed by independent statistician and research consultant Nigel Jacklin. The fieldwork was conducted by his company, Think.me.UK, in accordance with the Code of Conduct of the Market Research Society. Nigel gave a talk about Covid mortality at the first keep Britain Free gathering in Hyde Park. He uses a twitter account @TheGoodStatsMan to explain complicated and important things in plain English.
Keep Britain Free will be posting extracts from the report on social media. Please like and share these and the full report.