Boris Johnson's government slated for handling of coronavirus in reader survey

The UK Government gets just two out of 10 for its Covid performance, according to our exclusive survey.

There were a total of 10,456 responses on Mirror Online when we asked for people's views on the UK Government's response and current policies - and our readers are not impressed.

The vast majority (89%) do not think Boris Johnson has handled the Covid crisis well, and those in Scotland and Wales are even less positive, with 94% and 93% respectively saying he's not handled it well (compared to 89% in England).

But it is not just Mirror readers giving the Prime Minister the thumbs down, with readers on our sister titles also giving their verdicts and finding he has come up short.

There were a total of 79,341 responses to the surveys covering Reach's readers in the UK and Ireland asking for people's views on their respective government's response and current policies - and people aren't that impressed.

Of those surveyed by the Mirror, Express and the English regional titles, two-thirds (66%) don't think Boris Johnson has handled the Covid crisis well.

Mirror readers were most critical, 89% don't think he's done well, but 54% of readers of the Conservative-backing Express website have the same view.

Scottish readers are similarly critical of Nicola Sturgeon, with 61% saying they don't think she's handled the crisis well, but in Wales, 57% think Mark Drakeford has handled the Covid crisis well.

Three in five respondents (59%) across the Mirror, Express and the English regional titles don't think Boris Johnson is the right person to lead the nation at this time of national crisis - and Mirror (60%) and Express readers (58%) are pretty much in agreement here.

However, they were not convinced Labour leader Keir Starmer would have done a better job, with 49% of Mirror readers giving him the thumbs up, falling to 35% across the group.

In comparison, 58% of people in Wales think Mark Drakeford was the right person to lead their country through the crisis.

What do you think of the Government's handling of the pandemic? Have your say in the comments.

Are we ready for a second wave?

Generally, we do not think governments have prepared well for the second wave - overall 56% said the UK Government isn't ready (90% on the Mirror, 56% on the Express).

In Scotland, 66% don't think the Scottish Government is prepared, it's 56% in Wales, 78% in Northern Ireland, and 84% in Ireland.

NHS Test and Trace also isn't working - 82% across the Mirror, Express and the English regional titles say it isn't, as do 77% of those in Wales and 65% in Scotland. In Ireland, 81% don't think HSE's testing and tracing system is working effectively.

Three-fifths of those who responded (60%) don't think the UK Government's latest restrictions go far enough - that included 76% of Mirror readers and half (50%) of Express readers.

Those living in the devolved administrations also didn't think their local restrictions were enough - 54% in Wales and 59% in Scotland.

Given this, it's perhaps not surprising that people mostly don't think the UK Government's version of the Rule of Six restrictions are too severe (67%).

However, 57% of readers of the Mirror, Express and the English regional titles don't think people should snitch on their neighbours for breaking restrictions.

Readers in Wales were the only ones who were more in favour (53%), in comparison 67% of Mirror readers, 54% of Express readers, 66% in Scotland, 69% in Northern Ireland, and 63% in Ireland said no.

Respondents don't think guidance on Covid has been clear and comprehensible - 62% of readers said this about the UK Government (the same rate for Express readers, and rising to 91% among Mirror readers).

Scotland and Wales do better, but 57% and 51% respectively still don't think their government's guidelines are clear, but it's worse in Northern Ireland (86%) and Ireland (86%).

But Mirror readers are keen for the return of the daily Covid press conference (71%), although this idea is slightly more popular in Scotland (81%), than England (70%) and Wales (70%).

How is Chancellor Rishi Sunak doing?

Just over half of readers of the Mirror, Express and the English regional titles (53%) think Chancellor Rishi Sunak was right to end the furlough scheme at the end of October, with a higher proportion on the Express (64%). However, 75% of Mirror readers and 53% in Wales think he was wrong, and 59% of readers in Northern Ireland think the scheme should be reinstated.

People also don't think the measures he's announced go far enough to protect jobs (58%). Again, this was higher on the Mirror (78%), but half of Express readers agreed.

Of the Chancellor's previous policies, readers were split on whether Eat Out to Help Out was a good use of public money. Among Mirror readers, 51% said yes, while 48% of Express readers said yes, and 59% in Scotland and Northern Ireland said yes. But in Wales 62% said no.

Respondents on the nationals and English regionals were also split on whether there should be more support for arts organisations that are unable to open their doors - 52% think no, and 48% think yes. Express readers were slightly more likely to support such measures (55%) than Mirror readers (48%).

In the rest of the country people were much more in favour - 63% in Wales, 69% in Scotland, 77% in Ireland, and 78% in Northern Ireland said yes to more support for the arts.

Again, there's a split on whether the UK Government has done enough to support those made unemployed because of Covid, with 53% saying yes and 47% saying no.

However, people think devolved governments need to step up - 62% of those in Wales don't think the Welsh Government has done enough, and 68% in Scotland don't think the Scottish Government has done enough to support those made unemployed.

Did the Government get it wrong from the start?

Just over half of readers think the UK Government was too slow to bring in the initial lockdown in March (52%) - Express readers (54%) were more likely to think this than Mirror readers (47%).

People are split 50/50 on whether the UK Government did enough to protect care homes (51% of Mirror readers say they did but 57% of Express readers say they didn't).

In comparison, three-quarters (77%) don't think the Welsh Government did enough to protect care homes, and 79% don't think the Scottish Government did enough.

Another area where people don't think things went well was the GCSEs and A-Levels, with 68% of readers saying the UK Government didn't handle the exams grading issue appropriately. In comparison, 69% think the Scottish Government didn't handle the situation there well, while 62% felt the same in Wales.

However, people do think it was right to impose quarantine restrictions on travellers from certain countries - 63% say UK Government restrictions were right (backed by 76% of Express readers but only 48% of Mirror readers), with 88% backing the Welsh Government, and 77% backing the Scottish Government.