Early lockdown flouters have left authorities "without a leg to stand on"

27 June 2020, 13:47

Authority has been lost in enforcing lockdown measures

After Dominic Cummings and anti-racism protesters broke lockdown, Maajid Nawaz argued these events have given the public an excuse to flout rules.

After scenes during the week showed packed beaches in Brighton and fights breaking out in Bournemouth beach, scenes followed in Liverpool which showed lockdown restrictions being disregarded further with some anti-social behaviour occurring.

Maajid Nawaz took a moment to put the point to listeners that in the last four months, there has been so much flouting of lockdown that condemning people in Bournemouth and Liverpool does not carry the weight it once did.

"The public's lack of commitment to whatever we're now hearing from the government about the lockdown, whether it's to do with this or that - it all began with Dominic Cummings, however it didn't stop with Dominic Cummings." Maajid began.

"He used what he considered was his common sense to break lockdown rules, or bend them, for what he believed was really really important - family." Maajid pointed out that opinion was divided on whether this was a good enough reason to break lockdown between the right and the left.

He went on to remind listeners that "the left broke the lockdown rules with the anti-racism demonstrations" and the same division was seen between both sides of the political spectrum again.

"By the time we got round to football and Liverpool winning the league, any frail, fragile consensus we needed across the political spectrum for continuing to enforce lockdown rules was entirely shattered." Maajid argued.

"Now you're complaining about fights on the beaches of Bournemouth, it doesn't really carry the weight, does it?"

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