Is Britain becoming a police state under Boris Johnson?

Police drone footage of Peak National Park

THE outbreak of Coronavirus in Britain is a serious matter, and I fully understand the need to introduce measures to contain and control the spread of the virus. Other countries in Europe and elsewhere, have introduced similar measures including the United States and Australia. But if social distancing is be enforced throughout Britain, then it must be done with proportion and common sense, and it is not clear that the British police can be trusted to do this.

Last week, I was stopped by two police officers in a van while I was walking home. They wanted to know where I had been and where I was going. I told them that I had been out shopping and had called to see a friend and that I was now making my way home. I was told that I shouldn't visit anyone at their home and that I faced imminent arrest if I didn't have a reasonable excuse for being out and about. The police officers said that this had all been ordered by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. I was also told that I wasn't permitted time out of doors to undertake exercise. I told them that I knew nothing about these measures and that it sounded to me like we were now living in some kind of police state, in Britain. I told them that I shopped and looked after a vulnerable adult, and I was then allowed to complete my journey. A friend also told me that he'd been stopped one morning by the police while he was on his way to do shopping, while also on foot.

As I write, in the area where I live, Greater Manchester, care workers are still visiting homes, taxi drivers and bus drivers are still carrying passengers about and staff are working in the supermarkets. The dustbins are also being emptied and the post is being delivered. Currently local parks and takeaways are still open for business. Pubs, clubs and restaurants are closed but many shops and banks remain open. And yet, the police are driving about stopping people in the street to see if they've got a reasonable excuse to be out and about and are threatening to arrest people and could fine them, if they haven't. 

When the Prime Minister announced the lockdown on 23 March, he said people would only be able to leave their homes for shopping, one form of exercise a day, any medical need, or to provide care or help for a vulnerable person, or to go to work. Johnson also banned  gatherings of more than two people under the emergency measures.

So when a party of 20 people, gathered for a barbecue in Foleshill, a suburb of Coventry, after the imposition of the lockdown, they were shocked when local police - who'd smelled food being cooked outside - raided the house and tipped over the grill, bringing the party, to a sudden and abrupt conclusion.  The police tweeted:

"Unbelievably, we've just had to deal with 20+ people having a BBQ!! Please listen to government advice else this will get worse and will last longer!! They finished the message, '#RIPBBQ', before attaching a photo of a tipped over grill, with abandoned sausage rolls laying on the ground.

While the actions of the Coventry police may appear to have been justified in this particular case, under the current situation, the police nevertheless, appear to be also cracking down on what is deemed 'non-essential' - and by implication illegal - activity, by the authorities. In less than a week, Britain has become something of a police state, with millions of people effectively under house arrest, and the police being given blanket powers to enforce largely arbitrary rules.

It has been reported that Derbyshire police are using drones to spy on people going on 'non-essential walks' in the Peak District National Park, during the coronavirus lockdown. A video that has been made public, shows police drone footage of unsuspecting members of the public hiking, walking their dogs and watching the sunset. All totally harmless behaviour which is now deemed 'non-essential'. Although the Peak District could hardly be more sparsely populated, and there is little danger of spreading the virus to anyone, Derbyshire Police are warning the public to stay away from the Peak District.

In other parts of the country it is being reported that police are setting up checkpoints on Britain's roads demanding to know where motorists are going. In Cornwall, police threatened to search car boots to check whether drivers were off to the seaside.  In Cumbria, the police have warned members of the public, that they risk being fined if they visit the area, warning: "The Lake District is Closed."

Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, said: "These are chilling powers that create a serious risk of arbitrary policing. Authorities are right to take robust measures to protect public health, but in truth the only way we can control the spead is through well-informed community co-operation, not just criminalisation. Basic safeguards are missing from these extraordinary powers and I'm afraid more draconian powers still are to come from the Coronavirus Act."

Under Boris Johnson, Britain's is creeping towards becoming a police state. Not many weeks ago, Johnson was telling us that there was nothing to worry about because everything was under control and there were contingency plans in place. It was all bollocks  as usual. They hadn't a clue. While football matches were cancelled along with other events, the Cheltenham horse-racing festival went ahead.

What Boris Johnson's Conservative government have managed to do is to panic and spook people and that's why they're panic buying in the shops and supermarkets. They should have also taken effective measures much earlier. Instead, Johnson preferred to toy with the idea of "herd immunity" -  that is letting the virus take it course to a large degree.

As for medical assistance, most of us have been thrown under a bus, because you ain't going to get any or it's going to take forever for you to get to see a doctor. The reason there are fewer deaths in Germany is because they've got a much better health care system than Britain - which has suffered from years of Tory austerity policies since 2010 - and they treat people. But you can bet your bottom dollar, that Prince Charles and Boris Johnson are getting first class medical treatment. Both of them managed to get immediately tested for the virus  when thousands including doctors are denied it. When asked why Prince Charles was able to get tested when others could not - including NHS front-line staff - Health Minister, Edward Argar, told Sky News, that the heir to the British throne's symptoms and conditions, "met the criteria."

How long this lock-down is likely to last is a moot point. Some health professionals have suggested that it might take as long as six months for Britain to get back to normal, Let's hope is doesn't take too long to get back to normal life and not too many lives are lost to the virus.