Loathe thy neighbour: distrust runs rife after public were told to snitch on rule breakers

Neighbourly distrust has grown more than fivefold since summer 2020, with one in five people saying relations have soured in their communities.

Although a quarter of people (25 per cent) reported greater trust in their neighbourhoods, up from seven per cent, close to the same number of people (22 per cent) reported a deterioration, up from just four per cent last July.

The survey was carried out by researchers at University College London (UCL), who have been monitoring the attitudes of more than 70,000 people throughout the pandemic.

Nearly one in five (17 per cent) said in September 2021 that they now felt less cohesive, close, and had fewer shared values with their neighbours.

While the number of people who thought neighbourhood support had improved rose from 28 per cent to 35 per cent, the number who said it had deteriorated also jumped from 5 per cent to 15 per cent.

The downturn in neighbourly harmony for some follows a year in which both the UK policing minister Kit Malthouse and Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, urged people to report neighbours if they flouted lockdown rules, such as the rule of six or Christmas bubbles.

‘Restrictions have caused some to feel less satisfied with life in their community’

Police forces were inundated with calls from neighbours reporting locals breaking the rules, with South Yorkshire Police registering 871 calls in a single week in January.

During the winter lockdown, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, said the force received hundreds of calls a day from people reporting rule breaches.

Over one weekend in mid January, the Met issued 140 fixed penalty notices, totalling £39,000, in the boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Hackney alone.

While officials warned that those who broke the rules put everyone in danger, critics argued that encouraging people to inform on their neighbours would cause an unhealthy climate of suspicion.

A YouGov survey from September found that one quarter of Brits would inform on their neighbour for breaking the rule of six.

Lead author, Dr Elise Paul (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health) said: “Our report shows there have been positive improvements in the way we feel about our neighbours, when compared to before the pandemic.

“That said, some people now experience worsening of neighbourhood relations. Much has changed over the last 18 months, with limits to our freedom, how we interact with others and changes to how we shop and travel.

“Perhaps these restrictions have caused some to feel less satisfied with life in their community.”