Responding to Home Secretary Priti Patel’s COVID press briefing, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: “The Home Secretary can insist as often as she likes that Government guidelines are “actually clear and simple”, they aren’t. In her own press conference, the Home Secretary added to the confusion by talking about “outdoor recreation” instead of exercise.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Home Secretary to properly support the police and the country as a whole by making sure the guidelines on lockdown are crystal clear and understood.
“At the end of the day the spirit of the law is just as important as the letter of it in protecting people from the pandemic. The police cannot respond to every potential breach of the rules and so it is up to all of us to respect one another and take personal responsibility for keeping our communities safe. That is why it is so damaging that the government has lost its moral authority to encourage responsible behaviour after excusing irresponsible actions from people at the top.”