LOCKDOWN LAPSES
Police call for clarity on what’s now illegal
CLEAR guidance on enforcing stayat-home laws has not been given to police by the Scottish Government, officers claimed last night.
Yesterday, on a sunny bank holiday Saturday, the lockdown appeared to falter as crowds flocked to parks and beaches.
Advice to take only essential journeys was flouted as people joined long queues outside drive-through Costa coffee shops, B&Q stores – and even some pubs and bars.
One recently reopened bar in Glasgow city centre, Driftwood, was selling frozen cocktails for customers to take away. The Malt & Hops, in Leith, Edinburgh, was selling takeaway pints – although one customer was spotted filling a 3.5 pint container from the tap.
David Hamilton, Scottish Police Federation chairman, said many of the businesses which have reopened are enforcing social distancing rules, keeping customers two metres apart, but such frivolous journeys did not count as ‘essential’ and were therefore illegal.
On Friday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon again issued an unambiguous instruction, saying: ‘You must stay at home, please stay at home. Except for essential purposes such as exercise, or buying food or medicines, you should not be going out.’
Now Mr Hamilton has called for a proper definition of ‘essential trip’.
He said: ‘It was easy at the beginning because everyone followed regulations, but now people are getting mixed messages and are misunderstanding. As people start talking about easing lockdown, it starts a narrative and an expectation. Traffic is up, there are traffic jams outside of Costa.
‘It’s not illegal for Costa to be selling coffee, but it is illegal for folk to be buying it because it’s not a reasonable excuse for being outside the house.’
Mr Hamilton added: ‘I wouldn’t necessarily tighten regulations, but make sure they are reflective of what the messaging is – I don’t think they necessarily are at the moment.
‘In Government, nobody is criticising people for, say, sunbathing in the Botanic Gardens. No one has said that queuing outside Costa is wrong, no one is saying that going to get a fish supper is wrong.
‘The police are getting plonked into a position where, because nobody else is doing stuff, we’re having to pick up the slack in the middle. We’re having to enforce legislation on our whim as opposed to a parliamentary decision.’
Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘The mixed messages of the Scottish Government have created a confused situation, causing the police an enormous headache.’
But a spokesman for the Scottish Government said it had ‘worked very closely with the police and local government partners to deliver a clear, consistent message on the importance of staying at home and of observing social distancing when outside’.
Yesterday, motorways were notably busier than just a few weeks ago, with official figures on Wednesday showing a week-on-week rise of 20 per cent in car journeys.
At Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, police left notices on drivers’ windscreens with ‘guidance on essential travel’, after a motorist reportedly travelled from Edinburgh.
West Coast ferry operator CalMac has been turning away scores of people trying to flee to second homes or take day trips.
On Friday the Coastguard reported the highest number of callouts since lockdown began. Around 18 of the 97 incidents were in Scotland. One involved two drunk men trying to get into a boat.
So far, police have issued on-thespot fines to 2,263 people under coronavirus emergency powers.
They have also made 143 arrests linked to people breaking the lockdown restrictions between March 27 and May 6.
‘We’re having to enforce legislation on our whim’