A quarter of UK residents called the coronavirus a hoax: a “government conspiracy”

A quarter of people in the UK believe Covid was a hoax, a conspiracy theory poll has found. The survey found that there are millions more conspiracy theorists in the UK than most people realise, with almost a quarter of the population believing Covid-19 was likely or definitely a hoax.

According to The Guardian, about a third of the UK population is convinced that the cost of living crisis is a plot by the British government to control the public, and about the same number believe that the attempt to increase the number of pedestrians in neighborhoods is a government surveillance ploy, and that “the theory of the great substitution” (the idea that white people are replaced by non-white immigrants) is actually being implemented.

The findings, coming ahead of the UK’s first public inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 227,000 people in the UK, came from the April Savanta Poll for King’s College London (KCL) and the BBC.

It was found that such beliefs were spread through social networks.

One in seven people – about 6 million British adults – believe that violence is a fair response to some alleged plots.

The general public underestimates the number of conspiracy theorists by about 4 million adults, according to researchers who identified what they called “shocking” attitudes.

“Protest is a key part of a healthy democracy and people will sometimes have legitimate concerns about the motives behind the actions of the government and others, but it is worrying that about one in seven say that violence would be acceptable in protests against, for example, government digital currencies,” says Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at KCL.

Social media is the most likely place where people first encounter conspiracy theories.

Headlines in a recent issue of The Light in the UK include “CO2 hoax – how bankers take over the real environmental movement” and “Control of money will lead to total slavery”.

Conspiracy theories often develop based on real issues and anxieties. For example, rising interest rates and inflation that reduce wealth and leave families in distress can fuel the belief that powerful forces are plotting the deliberate impoverishment of certain segments of society.

“These results underline the importance of conspiracy theories in explaining how many people understand the politics and events that shape their lives,” said Dr. Rod Dacombe, a policy specialist in the KCL Department of Political Economy. “For some people, conspiracy theories are the main focus of political participation and the main means by which they understand what is going on in the world.”

Nineteen percent of survey participants said it was true or likely true that “the UK government carried out the London Underground attacks in 2005 to spur support for a war in the Middle East” and 18% said it was certain or likely , it is true that “the attack on the Manchester Arena was related to the crisis”, and that there were actors “who pretended to be injured or killed – in fact, people were not killed or injured”.

Three out of 10 people believed that the Great Reset initiative announced by the World Economic Forum in 2020 was a conspiracy to establish a totalitarian world government. Between a fifth and a quarter of people – between 8 and 10 million adults – said they would protest the introduction of digital currencies by the central bank, the “deep state” of the military, intelligence officers and government officials.

Men were about twice as likely as women to say they would engage in direct action.