This evening’s Downing Street coronavirus press briefing showed that ministers are still focused on enforcement of existing restrictions, rather than introducing even tighter curbs. Home Secretary Priti Patel announced £800 fines for people attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence, up to a maximum of £6,400. Patel said the police would target the ‘small minority that refuse to do the right thing’, and warned that the police were increasingly enforcing the rules.
Speaking alongside her, NHS England regional medical director for London Dir Vin Diwakar issued a moral warning to members of the public who think it is acceptable to flout the rules. He said:
‘Breaking the rules is like switching on a light in the middle of a blackout in the Blitz. It doesn’t just put you at risk in your house, it puts your whole street and the whole of your community at risk.’
House parties are quite obviously infuriating breaches of the rules. But more difficult to police are the quiet infringements, often from people who support the government’s restrictions – just for other people. As a report in the Guardian shows, perhaps a bigger problem than house parties is that people are avoiding getting tested and then refusing to self-isolate, partly because the financial support available isn’t enough to cover their losses.
Meanwhile, the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs has once again demanded that ministers produce a timetable for exiting lockdown, with chair Mark Harper releasing a statement this afternoon saying:
‘Ministers must come forward now with a plan for lifting restrictions. People must see light at the end of the tunnel and feel hope for the future, and businesses need to be able to plan our recovery as more and more of the vaccinations are rolled out to the most vulnerable groups.’
They might be cheered that so far Patel and colleagues are sticking to enforcement of the rules rather than more restrictions, but the CRG are still talking about a lifting of restrictions from February onwards. Scientists advising the government on the vaccination programme have today warned that restaurants and bars shouldn’t reopen before May.
At some point, there will be clash between what Tory MPs want to happen, and what is actually going to happen. On previous form, this clash will probably happen around the date in February when those MPs expect a significant loosening of restrictions. But surely it would be better for ministers to start levelling with the public now about how much more of a long haul this is going to be?
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