Easter fines for lockdown rule breakers
North Wales Police issued 26 fines over the Easter Weekend to those breaking the rules during the coronavirus lockdown.
The fixed penalty notices were issued between April 10, and April 13 (Good Friday to Easter Monday) - according to the NPCC (National Police Chiefs' Council).
On March 26, the Government announced new public health regulations to reduce the spread of coronavirus. These measures entitled officers to issue individuals with £60 fines if they failed to comply after officers had engaged with them, explained the risks to public health and encouraged voluntary compliance. ref Pioneer
Coronavirus fines: Lancashire Police issues most lockdown penalties
Deputy Chief Constable Sara Glen said Lancashire Police handed out the most with 380 due to "barbecues, parties and Blackpool beaches", followed by Thames Valley with 219 and Surrey with 205.
cont. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-52301650
It appears to me that NWP are either better judges of a situation or are too thin on the ground to catch the transgressors.
That said, by and large what I have seen whilst out and about on my daily exercise or weekly shopping trip has been compliance to the social distancing rules. That said, I haven't been very far at all.
As a law abiding citizen ( OK, I have been known to break the speed limits on open roads) I am getting rather fed up of some of the nonsensical rulings, particularly those decided by the police who have absolutely no mandate to make rules, just to enforce them. I was critical of those that condemned the police in the early days but I do believe those who warned of the permanent loss of liberty might not be quite so far fetched as I thought. I never had any objections to an identity card but the NHS tracking app worries me.
Our UK government has been slow and weak in their decision making, the Welsh Assembly was more decisive but come on, why should exercise be restricted to once a day? If I'm allowed to go on an 8 hour walk, why not two 30 minute ones? If I'm decorating paint is an essential item and it will certainly keep me within the confines of my own home. If Aldi, B&M and all the others that are open and are selling plants and bags of compost why can't my local garden centre. All those supposedly non essential hobbyist items would keep people off the streets too and if some stores can effectively organise social distancing why can't they all? Everyone needs food but what we are doing is funnelling everyone into the same shops who might otherwise have gone elsewhere and reduced the risk of cross contamination. Let's face it some of those supposedly organised stores that are open are a bit of a social distancing nightmare once you are allowed inside anyway.
We must give more credit to the public, and allow them to decide what is safe and what isn't. That said however, we need to protect the staff who are given the task of looking after those who get sick. That is the biggest dilemma. It's all very well clapping and cheering every Thursday night but the majority of us have no comprehension of what it's like to work in a hospital or infected care home. I don't think many of us have experienced the fear of going to work with the risk of death as a result. The fact that some people don't care about social distancing in the selfish belief that if they catch the virus they'll survive anyway is an outrage. If only the whole population had the same values of the majority who care we might be able to lead more normal lives. That's why we need rules, meaningful rules that actually make sense. We need politicians to lead by example and lay it on the line what we need to do and to apply common sense whilst they are at it. We also need to be told the truth, not given false impressions. I'm pretty positive I watched Matt Hancock state that they would achieve 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month, that has I'm told been changed to a "blue skies" objective not one they hoped to achieve.
I am one of the lucky ones who live in a nice part of the country, have a decent private space and don't risk loosing my job or business. If I'm frustrated, I can only imagine how those who are not as lucky as I am are feeling.
