It’s going to be very difficult to enforce rules, says police boss
risen from £60 to £100 in England for anyone who police believe is breaching restrictions on movement during the lockdown – doubling for each repeatoffence,uptoamaximum of £3,200.
Ms McGuinness said: “We have started the week with needless confusion and more questions than answers.
“If the PM had just gone to Parliament on Monday, announced his changes and published the full 50-page guidance at the same time, we would hopefully have had far greater clarity.
“Instead, we had a primetime speech that caused widespreadconfusion.Peopledon’t know which workplaces are meant to open or when. They don’t know how many family members you can meet or where they can meet them.
“And we don’t know what this means for our schools and our young people. The PM brought about this confusion then said he will be increasing fines for those breaking the rules. As things stand, it is going to be very difficult to enforce those rules, and we need urgent clarity.”
In guidance published on Monday,theGovernmentconfirmedthatpeoplecannowexercise outside as often as they want, spend time outdoors with one person from outside their household while observingsocialdistancingmeasures, anddrivetooutdooropenspaces “irrespective of distance”.
ThePCCadded:“Ihavespoken to the policing minister, who defended the guidance as workable. As it stands, this is categorically not the case. This halfway house between lockdown and freedom will be incredibly difficult to enforce.
“If we have a further rise in COVID cases, people will look back at the PM’s announcement and rightly feel that responsibility lies in Downing Street.”