New research by Ipsos MORI finds an increase in the number of Britons that claim to be following the coronavirus rules, up by 11 percentage points to 73%, compared to 62% last month. Four per cent say they have been following the guidelines not at all/ hardly/ less than half of the time. The most commonly broken rules were abiding by social distancing measures (42%) and visiting friends or family who they aren’t allowed to (19%).
As many Britons face tighter coronavirus restrictions, arguments for following the rules are much more convincing to Britons. Almost 9 in 10 think that preventing the spread to those most vulnerable, stopping friends and family catching the virus and ensuring the NHS is not overwhelmed (all 87%) are the most convincing arguments for following the rules. A further 81% want to avoid catching the virus themselves while three-quarters (76%) think we will return to normal more quickly if we follow the rules and trust the scientists and medical experts.
Seven in ten (70%) say that people should follow the coronavirus regulations because they should follow society’s rules, whether they like them or not. Just under two-thirds (64%) believe they should follow the rules in order to avoid the risk of getting caught breaking them.
When asked about arguments against following the rules, nearly half (47%) of Britons cite the lack of people in government following the rules as a convincing excuse not to follow them themselves. Other convincing reasons to break government rules include not knowing enough about the virus and therefore whether the current regulations are the right thing to do (42%) and breaking the rules to work or look after someone (41%).
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