I think that there have been two main issues with the public following "the rules"
A) The rules have all been hazy and ill defined. I once sought clarity on an issue from a friend in the police force and they were none the wiser.
B) (and this is more significant, in my opinion) - All parties, but *especially* the one in command and making the rules should have lead by example!
There should have been no far fetched eye test excuses. Regardless of if rules were or were not broken then, the damage done to public confidence by such nonsense has, undoubtedly, cost lives.
I don't agree with what the new leader of the labor party has done regarding the anti-Semitism suspensions etc but I can fully understand why he has done it - to set a clear and indisputable example of zero tolerance.
The government setting the rules would, I suspect, have had a different reaction from the general public if they had shown zero tolerance to discrepancies within their own ranks.
Eye test illegality or otherwise, it's perception that counts, and the perception has been that "if they're not following their own rules..."
It should have all been clear cut with no room for confusion.
The rules have not been "hazy" and "ill defined" AT ALL that's BS speak to point fingers - there is a pandemic and has been for a year now, people who interact with others, for whatever reason, risk a chance of infection; the more interactions the higher the risk.
This is not rocket science.
If this pandemic was smallpox or the bubonic plague you think people would still be being a-holes? NO.
(although the upside of that would be all the a-holes would already be long dead - so there's that, and the pandemic would fizzle out due to no contact with the intelligent isolationists.)
People are being A-holes, because people are people - the morons who thinks it's all a conspiracy, many of the younger generation think because they are young without underlying health conditions that getting covid is about the same as a flu - and because of the fact that some have been asymptomatic, they think they will be as well, have covid with NO ILL EFFECTS AT ALL and can carry on having house parties.
You could set up loudspeakers on every street corner, with TV screens showing local residents in hospital (and dying) from covid and THEY WOULD STILL NOT GIVE A DAMN - or they would find a way to say it's another conspiracy and didn't happen (like the moon landings).
The rules ARE CLEAR, and they have BEEN CLEAR since the beginning - the people who have been careful have stayed in LOCKDOWN as much as they can since march last year REGARDLESS of familial desires or needs as much as is possible. It's also been shown that no matter how careful you are, covid can still be contracted IF YOU ARE AROUND OTHER PEOPLE. Footballers, several people in F1, cricket etc etc etc the list goes on and on.
If you are around other people, EVEN those who are supposed to be in a closed bubble - someone, somewhere will still contract it and spread it.
Isolation is not perfect, but still proven to be the most effective method to reduce the spread - this is a simple, undeniable FACT.
Everyone else have just been chancers and fools who think it won't happen to them, until it does - IMHO it's pretty much a certainty some of the deaths in the last 28 days are a DIRECT RESULT of the idiots who broke the Xmas restrictions, and also likely some deaths attributed to those who adhered to the restrictions of household numbers, but DID NOT take enough precautions in the days leading up to Xmas, and infected TWO OR MORE households instead of just thier own.
Intelligent people don't need to be told that isolating a household and reducing outside interaction as much as possible is the smart thing to do during a pandemic, that's just good self defense, and those that DO need to be told, probably won't pay it more than lip service anyway.
I'm sick of reading armchair politicians blaming Whitehall for the moronic DGAF actions of Jill & Joe Schmo I see out there every.single.time I go out shopping in the last year - as an example, just the other day in Lidl I saw a woman pick up and handle THREE french sticks before choosing a fourth, without using disposable gloves provided. on the counter. (edit: yes we did have words, after she was less than polite, I brought it before a member of staff - I didn't check to see what they did after)
THIS is the BS the Govt is having to contend with, you can't herd people just as you can't herd cats - the only difference being cats can't be herded even if you use threat of deadly force.
If this gets much worse I'd introduce martial law, because clearly the idiots are STILL not getting it one year on - round them up and put them in camps where they can infect each other as much as they want - if they haven't understood that interaction = transmission by now, they never will and we will be forever at thier mercy as the strain continues to evolve and kill more people.
Enough is enough.
