ONE in five adults stopped following lockdown rules as strictly in the week after the Dominic Cummings scandal broke, new figures reveal.
And one in three of this group say the PM's aide is the reason.
Polling has already revealed how Boris Johnson's popularity has nosedived over his handling of the Cummings affair.
The Brexit campaigner and his family left London for Durham despite showing coronavirus signs and even took a drive to Barnard Castle.
That, the advisor said, was to test his eyesight.
The cabinet has insisted Cummings did nothing wrong, despite police confirming evidence of a breach of rules put in place by the UK Government to protect lives.
Now findings from pollsters YouGov show the impact that's had on public compliance with those rules.
The drop is most dramatic amongst younger people, with almost one third of those agved 18-24 and a quarter of 25-49-year-olds saying they are now following the rules less strictly than before.
The UK Government has suggested that complaince would drop as time went on.
But critics of its handling of the Cummings row — including devolved administrations — have raised serious fears about the message it sends on the importance of the virus control measures, and the penalties for breaching them.
Meanwhile, as lockdown lifts in England at a more rapid pace than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the proportion of people who think the crisis is easing has gone from 58% to 76% over two weeks.
But while there is increasing pressure from senior Conservative MPs and some businesses to reduce the 2m social distancing rule to 1.5m, a snap poll by YouGov has found that the public oppose this by 49% to 37%.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel