Banning Easter eggs a step too far

[VivienScott]

I’ve just read that some officials are cracking down on shops selling Easter eggs as it’s non-essential. Isn’t this all going a bit far now? Easter eggs aren’t essential but a chocolate bar is? Feels like some people are letting a minuscule bit of power go straight to their heads.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52090441

Every supermarket I've been in has easter eggs. I'm sure TPTB have better things to do than faff on banning them.

All these Easter eggs will just go to waste otherwise surely? I agree a trip to the shop just for an Easter egg is non essential but as part of picking up other supplies surely it’s fine?

I haven’t read the article. In my opinion they should sell of all The Easter egg stock as they normally would . They’ve been in the shops since after Christmas. If they don’t sell them what will happen to them?! Wasted? Binned? Imo it’s fine for a parent to grab an egg for their children whilst shopping for essentials!

I suppose it depends doesn't it? Going to the shop just for an Easter egg, non essential journey. Adding an Easter egg to your shopping basket of essentials, fine.

And reading through the article, it seems that it's particular individuals who are trying to (ahem) crack down and they're being told to wind their necks in.

They’re there already (& have been since about Feb in my area) so they might as well be sold otherwise it would just be wasteful! We’ve put 3 in our basket for this weeks click & collect & 2 for the week after (5dc) so I can’t see that it makes much difference as we need the rest of the shopping either way.

It's not officials. It's a few coppers who think they can apply their own standards to what is official.

Theres no official essentials list.

Last week in some tiny local stations, twitter feed one of them put 'remember, essential items only'

The government havent said you cant buy non essentials when doing your weekly shop.

It's just a few idiots that thing they can apply their own rules on top of the normal ones.

No one is considering banning easter eggs.

It doesn’t matter whether the eggs are essential or not, the police have no right to make this decision or to tell shops not to stock them. Our law enforcement are acting unlawfully. This is a major concern.

If they ban them, they should ban booze - not going to happen widely. My son was working at Waitrose yesterday, manning the v polite queue and giving away chocolate stock to lovely customers to say chin up. When I went shopping last for the begillion people I’m currently supplying, I was given flowers free by the shop. Lifted my spirits but would have enjoyed choc just as much.

We bought Easter eggs on Saturday. I went to shop today and bought bread milk and wine. I guess wine not essential but what does it matter if I'm in shop anyway. Did notice shop was asking people not to but lottery tickets or scratch cards unless they believed them essential. I have been buying lottery online anyway.

And of you don't buy the Easter eggs in-store they will just be wasted.

Even in Italy and Madrid, people are buying wine and chocolate. What are they supposed to do with it all, burn it, chuck it in the sea just for the sake of it?!

I think if this crisis has shown one thing, it's the power-hungry and authoritarian police that we have. Many are revelling in the chance to boss people about and over-reach their powers.

It's certainly shown their constant cries about lack of resources to be nonsense.

huge stack at the entrance to Aldi this morning. Point is that you don't pop out just to buy an easter egg.

My partner went to B&M last week to get all our cleaning supplies/toiletries etc and picked up one each for us and the children, plenty of them there apparently.

The "essential" part is referring to trips, not items, surely? The government has not and will not announce that they want the whole country on a diet of gruel and plain bread, because that's ridiculous.

A lot of police forces seem to be making up their own rules and generally reveling in the opportunity to bully people, which needs cracking down on. That shaming via drone thing didn't need to happen, particularly in light of announcements that they won't be doing anything about "minor crimes".

There's always a few overzealous dickheads who get drunk on any bit of power they have

Luckily bought our Easter eggs a week ago - either way, it would be stupid to ban sales of them if off licences are allowed to remain open.

I'm torn on this. A shop in our village (who fucked up with their initial reaction to this and annoyed everyone by selling pasta for £10 a bag and hand sanitizer for £20 a bottle) has started stocking and selling Easter Eggs for 50p. He's also selling wine cheap as well. He's making a massive effort to advertise this all over facebook.

I get that he's trying to fix his initial error, but there are now people coming from other villages to a shop who are not bothering to enforce any kind of social distancing in store and making the main street busier.

I can see why the local council and police would want to be able to stop him. So far though all they've been able to do is remind him that complaints can be relevant when he next applies to renew his alsohol license.

If it's just normal shopping and picking one up as well I can't see the issue. No different to being able to buy crisps or chocolate.

Easter is a religious festival and is more important than Christmas to many Christians.

Imagine the hoo-ha if the authorities decided to crack down on the sale of goods connected to other faiths...

I know I don’t get this minor crime thing and then using things like super expensive drones to fine people walking dogs ? But saying they won’t come out to a car break in etc ?

Could they not use this time of relative quiet to crack on with all this sexual assault cases that are sat waiting ?

I think if this crisis has shown one thing, it's the power-hungry and authoritarian police that we have. Many are revelling in the chance to boss people about and over-reach their powers. It's certainly shown their constant cries about lack of resources to be nonsense

Quite. No doubt they'll say they don't have resources to deal with domestic violence for example, but they seem to have resources to set up roadblocks and tell people not to buy Easter eggs. They're already rushing to say they can't deal with minor crime. Hmmm, priorities.

Again, the eggs already exist, as do many other non "essential" foods. Are the supermarkets meant to make a big pile and burn all the Mr Kiplings along with the crisps?

Meanwhile, the police say they just don't have time to investigate crimes, and public faith in the police is at an all time low.

And there's still people who say we don't need to worry about an abuse of our current 'state of emergency'.

The police are now deciding what's essential shopping. What the actual fuck.

With shortages of so much else in some places,
people have to fill up with something - hence Easter eggs !
(that would be my excuse)

Of course almost everyone will be adding these to their normal shop, not just going put for choc