Derby Telegraph

Ministers too weak with rule breakers

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I AM sure that 80% of us are concerned about our NHS frontliner­s being under so much pressure for far too many hours in the day, many of them apparently on the verge of exhaustion. They do not deserve that.

We all know who are the people responsibl­e for this situation. The Government knows, the police know, the NHS front-liners know, and we 80%’s know. It is the other 20% who are refusing to do as they are told.

The rave- ups in flats and houses, the mass gatherings outside and inside, the men who have recently been discovered in a pub bar, the people who refuse to wear masks, the people who do not “believe” there is a virus at all. It is all of those people who are responsibl­e for spreading this virus, not the 80% of us who are doing as we are told, we are not spreading it. How could we be if we are following all the rules?

Now we hear constant words of concern coming from members of our Government regarding the plight of our NHS front-liners and pleading with the population to have respect for them, but 80% of us already have that respect and concern and we do not need any member of Government pleading with us to live within the guidelines.

My question is this. Bearing in mind that, according to the Government, it is only a “tiny minority” of the population who are not following the rules, why are they not being treated as criminals? They are the ones responsibl­e for the mess we are in. How can what they are doing not be seen as a criminal act?

If the Government is as concerned about the plight of our NHS as it appears to be, then it is time for it to do something meaningful with the louts the police keep catching. Fining them is useless; lock them up for goodness sake. Our lives and our economy are surely worth more than pleading with these people.

Let’s just see how “concerned” our Government is. Its efforts so far can be likened to attempting to fight an alligator with a feather duster and it is pathetic to witness such extreme weakness in our Government. In fact it is embarrassi­ng.

Michael Pickering, Doveridge

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