Two-thirds of the public would back Scottish-style ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown

Nearly two-thirds of the public would back a Scottish-style ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown as Boris Johnson prepares to shut pubs and restaurants in the North.

An exclusive poll for MailOnline has found strong support for a ‘short sharp shock’ of tough restrictions across the country in a bid to break transmission chains.

The research by Redfield &Wilton Strategies also uncovered widespread confusion and disaffection with the current complex local curbs. 

Around a third of Birtons are not confident they know the rules in their area, while half admit they have not been following them fully.

The findings come as Mr Johnson faces fury from Northerners and a massing Tory revolt over plans to plunge 10million people in Covid hotspots into even tougher lockdown restrictions next week.

The PM has signed off a new ‘traffic light’ system of curbs for England after days of bitter wrangling between ministers and scientists, with a swathe of the country where infections have been surging facing the harshest Tier Three level.  

The mechanism for classifying ‘red’ zones are still unclear, but they are expected to cover Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle – three cities that have continued to see infection rises despite local lockdowns. 

Hospitality businesses are set to be shut under the new measures, but shops, offices and schools will stay open.

However, the Westminster government is still fighting to avoid a blanket nationwide lockdown similar to that dramatically announced by Nicola Sturgeon yesterday. 

In Scotland pubs and bars are being banned from serving alcohol indoors for 16 days starting tomorrow, and must shut by 6pm. In large areas north of the border hospitality venues are being told to close altogether.

The Redfield & Wilton poll found 63 per cent would back a similar temporary crackdown being introduced across the UK – including 33 per cent who said they were strongly supportive.

By contrast, just 13 per cent said they would be against the move.

The survey of 3,000 people, conducted this week, also asked whether people were confident they knew local lockdown rules – which notoriously bamboozled the PM himself last week when he muddled up the restrictions for the North East. 

Some 70 per cent said they believed they knew the rules, but 30 per cent confessed they were not sure.

Meanwhile, in a finding that will alarm ministers worries about ‘lockdown fatigue’, 52 per cent said they had been following the rules ‘fully’ over recent weeks. 

But 41 per cent said they had only ‘mostly’ or somewhat obeyed what they were meant to do. And another 7 per cent admitted they had been ignoring the rules altogether.

The sense of gloom in the country as coronavirus cases spike was emphasised with just 13 per cent believing the current lockdown will have eased by Christmas.

And Mr Johnson now has a minus 18 approval rating from the public for his handling of the crisis.  

A fifth believe Nicola Sturgeon would do a better job as PM, and 19 per cent would prefer Keir Starmer.