Almost 80 PER CENT of Britons back a full border shutdown to protect against importing Covid variants despite Boris Johnson ruling it out
- Poll shows 59 per cent of people believe current border rules not strict enough
- Some 78 per cent would support the United Kingdom fully closing its borders
- Comes after Boris Johnson ruled out the move, saying it was ‘not practical’
Almost 80 per cent of Britons would support the Government fully closing the UK’s borders to protect against importing coronavirus variants, according to a new poll.
An exclusive survey for MailOnline found that some 78 per cent of people would back a total border shutdown while only six per cent would oppose such a move.
The poll, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, found that 59 per cent of people believe the current border rules are not strict enough.
The findings came as Boris Johnson faced growing pressure over the Government’s delayed hotel quarantine plans.
A new poll for MailOnline found almost 80 per cent of Britons would support a full border shutdown
Some 59 per cent of people believe the current border rules are not strict enough while just seven per cent believe they are too strict
International travel is prohibited under the terms of the latest lockdown, unless it is for essential purposes.
People arriving into the UK must have a negative test before travelling and they also have to self-isolate for 10 days.
Ministers are in the process of setting up hotel quarantine which will apply to Brits arriving back from countries on the Government’s ‘red list’ – those which have high case numbers or where a variant has been discovered.
Those people will have to pay to stay in Government-approved accommodation for the 10 day period.
However, the new poll suggests the public would like ministers to adopt an even stricter approach.
The survey of 1,700 people conducted on February 3 found that 59 per cent of people believe the current rules are not strict enough.
Some 22 per cent believe the current measures are appropriate while seven per cent believe they are too strict.
Asked if the hotel quarantine policy for arrivals from ‘red list’ countries goes too far, some 20 per cent of respondents said ‘yes’ while 80 per cent said ‘no’.
On the question of whether the UK should fully close its borders, 45 per cent said they would strongly support the move while 33 per cent said they would support it.
Just four per cent of respondents said they would oppose it and two per cent said they would strongly oppose it.
The numbers came after Mr Johnson said yesterday that Britain cannot shut its borders completely to prevent mutant coronavirus strains getting in as he denied ignoring SAGE advice.
The PM insisted closing off the country altogether was ‘not practical’ as he clashed bitterly with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.
The Labour leader demanded to know why ministers had not followed the views of scientists two weeks ago that a ‘pre-emptive closure of borders or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival’ was the only way to stem the flow of variants.
But Mr Johnson said the UK had one of the ‘toughest regimes in the world’ and stressed that ‘quarantine hotels’ are being brought in for high-risk countries – although he did not indicate when.
‘It is not practical completely to close off this country as he seems to be suggesting,’ he said.
‘What is practical to do is have one of the toughest regimes in the world and to get on with vaccinating the people of this country.’