Fines not the answer to isolation-breakers

Decent sick pay for carers on minimum wage might do more to tackle risk of desperate breaking of rules

There is an instinctive appeal to the idea of imposing hefty fines on those who ignore the Covid isolation rules.

The prospect of a second wave of the virus, and with it a potential “circuit-breaker” two-week minilockdown to try to stop its spread, appears to be growing almost by the day.

If the right thing to do was not clear to everyone long ago, it should be brought into sharp focus right now. If you test positive for coronavirus, you must self-isolate for 14 days in order to protect others from the spread of the pandemic. If you are traced as a close contact of someone who has tested positive, you must do the same.

Anyone who ignores these clear instructions is being reckless with the lives of others.

In order to reinforce this message, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced fines of up to £10,000 for anyone breaking a new legal requirement in England to adhere to these rules.

In Scotland, where police already have the ability to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £60 on those who break restrictions, a similar move is under discussion.

There are, however, clearly misgivings within the Scottish Government about following suit, and in this instance at least with good cause.

For the vast majority of us who do our best to follow the rules, the appeal of a policy which punishes those who flagrantly break them is undeniable. But good law-making even during a pandemic must be based on more than just the satisfaction of punishing wrong-doers.

It is true that there is some value in the move simply on the basis that it would lift the morale of those of us who do follow the rules.

There has to be serious doubts, though, about whether such a policy will achieve much apart from a few positive headlines.

Those who break the self-isolation rules right now are either feckless or desperate.

Fines might deter the feckless but only if they believe there is a serious risk of being caught. It is hard to believe in the current circumstances they will be enforced with any rigour.

Fast-tracking moves to ensure decent sick pay for carers on minimum wage zero hours contracts might do more to tackle the risk of desperate individuals breaking the rules than threatening them with massive fines.