Selfish organisers of illegal raves are jeopardising progress we have made

Over the bank holiday weekend, many people will rightly be looking forward to going out and seeing friends and family. And I would like to thank the vast majority of the public who continue to follow the rules we have put in place to control the spread of coronavirus.

Thanks to your sacrifice and sense of duty, we can once again spend time with those we love and do the things we have missed. While we have made progress over the last few months, it is also essential that people remain alert and enjoy summer safely – the danger has not gone away.

Sadly, there is still a small minority of inconsiderate individuals who show a blatant disregard for the safety of others.

Despite being clear that gatherings of more than 30 people are against the rules, we have seen a number of illegal events in recent weeks.

Forces in England and Wales have been increasing patrols to prevent illegal gatherings. In Leicester and Greater Manchester, deployments have already been larger than on New Year’s Eve. In London alone, the Metropolitan Police has responded to more than 1,000 unlicensed events – such as big raves and parties – since the end of June.

We will not allow this breathtakingly selfish behaviour from a senseless minority to jeopardise the progress we have made together. That is why we are cracking down on the most serious breaches of social distancing restrictions.

Under new measures that came into force yesterday, those holding, or involved in the holding of an illegal gathering of more than 30 people can now face a £10,000 fine. The police also have powers of entry and seizure of sound equipment in certain circumstances, such as unlicensed music events.

Anyone caught attending these events risks a fine of £100, doubling on each repeat offence up to a maximum of £3,200.

These gatherings might seem harmless, but they are not. Far from it.

They are hosted with no consideration whatsoever for the safety of those attending, as well as the wider community, including residents who may be elderly or vulnerable.

They also risk being exploited by criminals and becoming hotbeds of anti-social behaviour. And we know that these events can have a distressing effect on those living nearby – leaving local residents feeling trapped, helpless or frightened.

It is unacceptable that the most vulnerable in society are being put at risk in this way, as well as the rest of us who continue to follow the rules.

That is why the police have my unwavering support in their hard work to shut down these events.

I am thankful to the officers who are successfully breaking up these illegal, unlicensed events.

However, this is no easy task, and many of these events are organised on social media, allowing users to connect and share information on the location of parties and raves at the last minute, making it much harder for police to track and prevent them. To the organisers of this sort of activity I say – you are not above the law.

It is critical that you consider the potential impact of these events, otherwise we risk undoing all the hard work the majority have done to stop the spread of this deadly virus.

I urge you to seriously consider the risks you’re creating for everyone in attendance, as well as the wider community.

To anyone with concerns about an unlicensed event, please contact the police.

We must not forget that we are still in the midst of a pandemic – please remain alert and enjoy summer safely, so we can control the virus and don’t put our recovery at risk.

‘The police have my unwavering support in their hard work to shut down these events’