Common sense must prevail when following lockdown rules
IN the midst of a health crisis that has killed tens of thousands of people in the UK, forced vast numbers out of work and seen the country’s economy derailed by unprecedented debt, it seems surprising that people should be arguing about the definition of a single word.
Even more so when it concerns how people spend their free time exercising during a time of national lockdown.
And yet the term ‘local’ has become a source of debate as people try to fathom how far they can travel from their front door without breaking the law.
After the confusing plethora of rules that characterised local tiers, the lockdown message is clear – stay at home.
One can leave to shop for basic necessities, to go to work if it cannot be done at home and for various other specific reasons listed by Government, but the over-riding emphasis is on keeping off the streets and away from other people.
Then comes the issue of taking daily exercise – and with it a degree of uncertainty about exactly what is acceptable.
The Government advice on its website regarding exercise states: “You may exercise on your own, with one other person, or with your household or support bubble. This should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.”
As police crack down on people caught out and about, it has prompted argument about what it means to exercise locally. It was not helped by recent publicity given to two women in Derbyshire who were fined £200 each when they drove five miles for a walk. They have since had the penalties withdrawn and have received an apology from Derbyshire Police, who insisted at the time that driving to exercise was “not in the spirit” of this vital lockdown.
Common sense must prevail, and while police should act proportionately, officers are forgiven for being as confused as the public over where the line can be drawn.
The Government website goes a little further in explaining the term ‘local’ when it says: “If you do leave home for a permitted reason, you should always stay local – unless it is necessary to go further, for example to go to work. Stay local means stay in the village, town, or part of the city where you live.”
To define the term in any more detail would be counterproductive. Arguments over exact mileages or the position of local authority boundaries or whatever other precise demarcations are suggested would be an unnecessary diversion at a time when the pressing objective is to curb the spread of the virus.
Police are rightly taking a tough line enforcing the lockdown, especially as anecdotal evidence suggests the streets are far busier than they were during the first lockdown last spring.
They will be relying on the public to take a common-sense approach to the term local. As a spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police put it: “We ask our communities to follow the spirit of the Government’s Covid guidance, not just the letter of the law.”