meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Story

The pandemic: A country divided?

The Story

The Times

Investigative Reporting, Daily News, Current Affairs, Uk News, News, Politics, Global News, News Analysis, In-depth Journalism, Long-form Audio, Audio Storytelling, Exclusive Interviews, Daily News Podcast

3.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the first weeks of lockdown we saw Brits come together in a show of astonishing unity. But a new poll reveals divisions are emerging. What could this change of heart mean for the UK's future? 


Guests: 

Bobby Duffy, professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute, King's College London.


Presenter: David Aaronovitch.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

In the first few weeks of lockdown, what had been divided Brexit Britain reunited.

0:09.6

So we had nine and ten people supporting the lockdown measures and 7 and 10 of those strongly supporting

0:17.0

the lockdown measures and it's just about unheard of to get 7 and 10 Brits strongly supporting anything.

0:23.7

It probably couldn't last.

0:26.1

And according to a major new survey, it hasn't. The other thing that I cannot stand is the word social distancing.

0:37.0

It is not social distancing.

0:40.0

It is anti socialsocial distancing.

0:43.0

You're listening to stories of our times from the Times and the Sunday Times.

0:46.5

I'm David Aronovich.

0:48.0

Today, our pandemic divisions and what they mean for our outer lockdown future.

0:56.0

Hello Calum McDonald here, one of the presenters of Times Radio Breakfast,

1:06.2

just to let you know about the Future of Food and Drink Summit in November,

1:10.3

the Times and the Sunday Times Scotland are hosting a field to fork overview of the food

1:15.6

and drink industry featuring global brands and exciting startups all looking for fresh

1:21.2

avenues for future growth and you can be there too.

1:25.2

Come and join me and those experts in Aberdeen.

1:28.7

Register at Times-event.com forward slash food and drink Hi, my name's Menina. I'm 64 and I work as a color and style consultant. I have my own business.

1:57.0

Some top social scientists at Kings College London have conducted a big new bit of research.

2:07.0

They've concluded that the two tribes of Remain and Leave who came together as lockdown began have now divided again over how to fight the virus

2:16.7

and added a new third group. Most of us are likely to fall into one of these three categories.

2:24.0

Now, the non-expert voices you'll hear from in this episode weren't part of that survey.

2:28.5

They're ordinary citizens, but they do fit the categories. Menina is in what's now called the frustrated category,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.