You can shop more than once a week
No10 overrules minister as police defend forces’ tactics
TRANSPORT Secretary Grant Shapps was slapped down by Downing Street yesterday after telling families they should shop for essentials only once a week.
During a round of interviews, Mr Shapps acknowledged there had been some ‘teething problems’ with the police enforcement of the lockdown rules.
But he then sowed confusion by saying people should shop for essentials only once a week, and should not travel by car to exercise – neither of which are rules set out in government guidance.
‘People know the rules that have been set – try and shop just once a week,’ Mr Shapps said. ‘Just do the essentials, not everything else.’
Asked if Mr Shapps was right, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The guidance doesn’t specify that.’
Downing Street confirmed last night there was no limit on how often people could go to the shops for necessities.
Mr Shapps also appeared to risk confusion by saying people should not drive to the countryside to exercise or walk their dogs.
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 for England, which were enacted on Thursday to give police the power to enforce rules with fines and even arrests, says: ‘During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.’ Reasonable excuses include buying food and exercising.’
The legislation does not specify – or limit – how many times a day someone can leave their house. Neither does it forbid people from using cars or any other vehicle in any circumstance. Labour has called for stricter guidance to prevent non-essential workers from continuing to work as normal, amid fears it is undermining efforts to suppress the spread of the disease.
But Mr Shapps said ministers had to be ‘careful not to completely crash the economy’, warning that it could be ‘impossible or very difficult to pick up again afterwards’.
It came as police chiefs hit back at claims the lockdown had turned Britain into a police state.
Forces have come under fire from former judges and ministers for abusing new powers to enforce the coronavirus lockdown amid anger at drones, helicopters and roadblocks being deployed to force people to stay indoors.
Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption said officers had ‘shamed our policing traditions’ after Derbyshire Police used a drone to spy on dog walkers at an isolated beauty spot.
Some forces such as Lancashire have issued 123 fines for breaches of the rules. But a survey of forces yesterday revealed around a quarter had not issued any fines or made any arrests so far.
Former Greater Manchester police chief Sir Peter Fahy said comparisons to George Orwell’s vision of a totalitarian state in his novel 1984 were ‘not true’. He likened some forces’ response to Mark Sennett’s slapstick comedies about incompetent officers, telling BBC’s World At One: ‘I would suggest it’s a bit closer to Keystone Cops rather than 1984 and overall I think it’s a bit disappointing if people are trying to make judgments on a series of tweets rather than for instance what the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has said about her approach.’
Britain’s most senior officer, Met Commissioner Dame Cressida
Dick has told her force to use enforcement only as a last resort.
West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: ‘There have been a small number of cases I have seen where I think this could have been done differently. However, comments [about a] police state are widely off the mark.
‘The general comments that have been made by experts and people, they just need to cut us a little bit of slack at the moment, it’s pretty tough.’ Mr Thompson, who leads Britain’s second largest force serving 3million people, said his officers had used the powers only twice.
Derbyshire Chief Constable Peter Goodman also defended tactics used by his force, including filming walkers with drones to deter visitors to the Peak District. Speaking on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show, Mr Goodman said of Lord Sumption’s comments: ‘I think there’s a misinterpretation by him about what’s going on.
‘We had many, many members of the Derbyshire community contacting the police very concerned because villages that are largely filled by elderly residents who were self-isolating were inundated by thousands of visitors parking and walking around their villages.
‘We put the footage out to start a conversation with the public, frankly, to say this is what Derbyshire is like, and... we believe the sensible thing is not to come to Derbyshire to come walking because of the risk you are posing to elderly.’