Two thirds say travel corridor closure has come too late

Two thirds (66%) of UK adults say that the decision to close England’s travel corridors has come too late, according to a new poll by Savanta ComRes.

All travel corridors, which permit people to return to England from certain countries without needing to self-isolate, were closed on Monday morning after an announcement by the Prime Minister on Friday.

The new polling finds that two in three (67%) support the decision made by the Government, while just one in eight (12%) oppose it. Support tended to be higher among older adults (55+ 81%) compared to younger (18-34 48%), although younger adults were often more likely to be neutral or lacking an opinion on the matter rather than outright opposing it.

Just one in six (16%) say that the decision to close the travel corridors has come at the right time, and while two thirds (66%) of adults say that the decision has come too late, two in five (41%) adults overall say the decision has come ‘much’ too late.

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes said, “On many occasions over the past year, the government has announced policy shifts which are popular and viewed as sensible by the public – but are often seen as coming too late.

“While public opinion will be far from the only consideration the Government makes when implementing restrictions such as this, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that it could act much sooner and not lose public support – and possibly increase public confidence at the same time.”