Beach Fights Won’t Shake Johnson From U.K. Lockdown Easing

(Bloomberg) -- Crowds of day-trippers flouting social-distancing rules on U.K. beaches are the responsibility of local authorities, Boris Johnson’s government said, days after the prime minister urged resorts to show “guts and determination” and open up after the coronavirus lockdown.

Photos of packed seaside towns dominated newspaper front pages on Friday amid reports of fights and littering as tens of thousands of furloughed workers headed to the coast. Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned he could close beaches to head off any new spike in Covid-19 cases.

Johnson’s office, however, sees it as a local problem.

“It’s for local authorities to manage numbers,” the prime minister’s spokesman, Jamie Davies, told reporters. “We want people to enjoy the open spaces we have in this country, while keeping to rules on social-distancing.”

Later, the prime minister warned people risk triggering a “serious spike” in infections if they take “liberties” with social-distancing rules.

“It is crucial that people understand that on July 4 we get this right, we do this in a balanced way,’ Johnson told broadcasters about his plan to ease the lockdown. “The bug you carry can kill elderly people particularly. It is still dangerous; the virus is still out there.”

Johnson’s announcement this week that lockdown rules will be relaxed from July 4 coincided with a heatwave across much of southern Britain. Environment Minister George Eustice said it was the good weather that led to overcrowding, and not the public interpreting Johnson as saying the crisis is over.

The government was criticized earlier in the year over its communication of Covid restrictions after Johnson defended his chief aide’s decision to drive the length of England during the lockdown. Local authorities and police chiefs blamed that incident for inciting more people to flout the rules.

Party Pressure

Johnson has been under intense pressure from members of his Conservative Party to ease the lockdown to reboot the economy, which has been plunged into recession by a pandemic that left the government paying the wages for more than 9 million private-sector jobs through its furlough program.

On Tuesday, he said pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen July 4, and social-distancing rules will be eased, allowing people to come within a meter of those from other households, so long as they take other precautions, such as wearing a face mask.

Until that date, though, the requirement remains to stay 2 meters apart, something newspaper photos showed wasn’t being widely observed by sunbathers and swimmers.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned virus cases may rise again.

“COVID-19 has gone down due to the efforts of everyone but is still in general circulation,” he said. “If we do not follow social distancing guidance, then cases will rise again. Naturally people will want to enjoy the sun, but we need to do so in a way that is safe for all.”

Full Responsibility

At a news conference Tuesday, Johnson said he took full responsibility for easing the lockdown, while the scientists flanking him -- including Whitty -- warned the virus will be with the U.K. into 2021.

The Department of Health published data this week showing the Covid-19 transmission rate, or so-called R number, remains between 0.7 and 0.9 across the U.K., meaning it will not take much for the virus to move back into exponential growth.

John Apter, National Chairman of the Police Federation, criticized the government’s messaging and warned it could increase pressure on forces.

“We all accept that the economy must get moving after such a long period of lockdown,” Apter said in a statement. “However, the announcement of this easing of lockdown has been done in such a way that a head of steam will be gathering between now and the 4th July, which could be seen by some as a countdown to party time, which is not accurate and certainly not the message we want to send.”

There have already been incidents of violence this week, including in Brixton, south London. In Bournemouth, which declared a major incident due to overcrowding on Thursday, three men from London were stabbed during a fight late in the evening, police said.

Johnson’s spokesman made clear on Friday the government has no plans to alter the timetable, and reiterated the prime minister’s position that it is time to get the economy moving.

Asked in Parliament on Tuesday by Labour MP Peter Kyle, who represents the coastal district of Hove, who would keep “destination communities” like his “extra safe,” the prime minister’s response was emphatic.

“I will be calling on local representatives such as the honorable gentleman to show some guts and determination, and to champion their communities as venues for people to return to and support,” he said.

Davies said Johnson stands by those words.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.