Binoculars ready? Why shouldn’t we dob in rule breakers next door?

Six replaced three as the “magic number” last week as the Government’s new rules and restrictions came into force, limiting how many people we can meet at any one time.

I fully appreciate how difficult it must be to make these decisions, and I don’t envy our politicians right now, but some of the loopholes and exemptions to the new measures seem downright ridiculous – particularly the fact that grouse shooting of all things is deemed OK but five-a-side football games aren’t.

According to the rules, which are now enshrined in law, social gatherings of more than six people (from a maximum of two households here in Scotland) are illegal, and police now have the power to hand out fines of up to £3,200 to those meeting in larger groups. However, children can still go to school, offices are reopening and, of course, shooting parties can meet to hunt wild animals.

Quite frankly this exemption for so-called “blood sports” is completely unacceptable, and so typical of the Boris regime. Just like when senior adviser Dominic Cummings broke lockdown to visit Barnard Castle (sorry, he was road-testing his eyes). It’s one rule for the chosen few and another for everyone else.

It does seem especially unfair to parents with small children, who send their wee ones off to a packed classroom each morning that – outside of school

– they can’t meet up with other families for playdates or birthday parties.

It is discrepancies and oversights like this that really get people’s back up – and probably lead to them breaking the rules out of sheer frustration and anger.

And, speaking of rule-breaking, Home Secretary Priti Patel has said people should report their neighbours to the police if they witness any breaches

Blood sports are deemed OK but five-a-side football isn’t?