Eight in 10 Britons want Boris Johnson’s Government to help pay to vaccinate the world’s population to keep the UK safe.
The proportion is the highest in any major industrial country, and is revealed as leaders of the G7 richest nations meet in Cornwall this week.
The Prime Minister is accused of grandstanding by failing to produce a plan to reinforce a statement he wants the entire globe jabbed by the end of 2022.
The poll for Save the Children found the 79% of Britons backing financial contributions to vaccinate people is higher than 71% of Germans and 75% of Americans.
Labour former PM Gordon Brown, a prominent anti-poverty campaigner, said the support made him “proud of the British people”.
Writing in today’s Mirror, he said: “British people understand that no one is safe until everyone is safe and that Covid-19 is not over anywhere until it is over everywhere... Covid knows no borders so nor should our response to it.
“Yet only 2% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s one billion citizens have been vaccinated – compared with 60% in the UK.”
Under a plan proposed by charities and 230 prominent figures including former PMs Brown and Tony Blair, Britain would pick up 5% of the £66billion bill over two years with the European Union paying 22% and the US 27%.
Brown argues it is not only in Britain’s health but economic interests to contribute.
“If the cost of vaccines is in billions, the savings are in trillions. The normally cautious IMF have said the world economy will be better off by £6tn by 2025 if we mass vaccinate now,” he said.
“It’s not just an act of charity to vaccinate the world’s poor. It’s self-protection. It’s like taking out the best insurance policy in
the world.”
