Lionred
The 26th of March was a bright sunny day as befits early spring in the UK. It was a welcome break from the recent outburst of ugly weather, wind, rain and flooding. According to the MSM all that has been missing has been an abundance of locusts, frogs and pestilence. Perhaps that will come once the UK has finally departed from the comfort of the EU.
Anyway, it was also the first day of the implementation of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020.
This was something that the country had been waiting for, mostly in anticipation, but tinged with trepidation amongst a thinking minority.
I had to make a road trip of 200 miles mostly along motorways and dual carriageways. I have to say that this was the easiest that the trip has ever been, although it was slightly disturbing, driving along deserted roads giving the appearance of an existence in a dystopian society in the faraway wherever. Aware of the provisions of the act I knew that I was not driving in breach of them, but knowing that the police and other agencies have a propensity to overuse the powers granted to them and if resistance is offered to this overuse I armed myself accordingly.
I had been arranging a family funeral and was returning to my home, so I had with me a copy of the death certificate, a copy of the service paper and a copy of the Act of Parliament described above.
Alas, I completed the journey without incident, thus depriving me of the feeling of smug self-satisfaction had I been stopped by the police. It was entirely uneventful, with very few cars although there was still a presence of HGVs, mostly food and retail distribution from appearances.
For some reason, I had not seen any police presence at all. When I got home I saw the reports of police roadblocks, police stopping dogwalkers because they had driven to a remote spot to walk their dog, roadblocks stopping people going to the beach on the grounds of too close a proximity to other people, police interrogating drivers as to the purpose of their journey and using drones to police likely areas where people may gather.
Councils have been using drones to watch popular hotspots and have even had voiced drones patrolling above Boots, a pharmacy chain, warning people in a queue to disperse and go home. This was not well received by people who had been queuing for hours two metres apart to get medication and prescriptions.
The situation is now becoming clearer, with the police and local authorities extending the use of these powers beyond what they were entitled to do. The bill is quite explicit in stating that local authorities cannot appoint a relevant person to deal with matters of movement of people. This is reserved for the police, Police Community Support Officers and people appointed by the secretary of state. David Gauke, the Lord Chancellor and Justice Minister in the May government has said that this over-vigorous interpretation of the act is illegal. The police of course insist that they are only implementing the Act (using their own interpretation of phrases such as essential and reasonable).
And still, the sun was shining.
One day later and the situation is becoming clearer, the police and local authorities are carrying on with their own interpretation and becoming heavy-handed in their approach. It is becoming clearer that they are running the risk of losing the public and becoming more confrontational, no longer being policing of the people, for the people. Policing by consent is being replaced by policing by imposition. This is gradually undermining the principles by which people in the UK have lived for years.
In fact, the Police Chiefs’ Council have admitted today that the actions of yesterday were wrong and that people can still visit beauty spots but mustn’t mingle and can leave home to exercise more than once a day. We are still waiting for clarification on dog walking.
I feel free at the moment to take my dog for two walks today!
And still, the sun is shining.
I am extremely concerned about the way that sensible measures run the risk of not working because by over-policing them the police are losing public support.
Meanwhile, life goes on. Supermarket shopping is settling down, and the ones I use have a policy of as soon as one customer leaves another is allowed in. They have defined two-metre spaces for queuing and restricted purchases to maximum numbers per product line. I must admit that again apart from the dystopian eerie feeling of desertion the experience is better and more relaxing than usual.
The TV is continually giving updates, but the presentation does not seem as though we are on a war footing, it just seems unreal and disconnected. One commentator has suggested that with increased police numbers on the streets and restrictions on movements outside the home, we should see a fall in knife crimes and shootings in London.
I was going to try and finish this letter without mentioning the “c” word but I am going to have to. Corbyn has just been spouting absolute rubbish again. “’I was denounced as somebody that wanted to spend more money than we could possibly afford in order to right the social wrongs of this country.”
“I didn’t think that it would take only three months for me to be proved absolutely right by the amount of money the government is now prepared to put in, and parliament has just voted through, to deal with the coronavirus crisis.” Completely ignoring that the measures have been taken to rectify a particular situation and save the economy, not spending for the sake of it in a normal economy.
So my main concerns today are the deterioration of the UK into a police state, the stupidity of politicians and trying to get my children back to New Zealand – they had flown up for the funeral. Tomorrow will be another day.
And the sun still shines.
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