Should Boris Johnson be fined for not staying local to exercise?

[MyBossIsATwat]

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-cycle-7-miles-downing-street-olympic-park-b827961.html

Don’t be so ridiculous, are you just looking for another excuse to get at the PM? Perhaps you should substitute your ”Boss” for yourself!

You are so right! Anybody should be allowed to drive to a beauty spot with their mates, any time they feel like it!

This was not prohibited by the guidelines.

Exercising with one other person is allowed.
Those beauty spots will be local for some people.

I don’t think he should be prosecuted for cycling 7 miles, but I don’t think the women in Derbyshire should have been fined either. ‘Local’ has not been defined in law so... it’s pretty open to interpretation for all of us to do what we consider to be local.

Can't stand Boris in any way shape or form but sounds like he followed the rules to the letter. His exercise started and finished at home. Even my unfit arse knows that 7 miles is bugger all when cycling, especially somewhere as flat as London.

Those women purposefully broke the rules to exercise. It's been made quite clear that driving to exercise is only an exception for a small group of people...neither of them fell into that category. That being said Derbyshire police reacted very heavy handed to guidance/rules being broken rather than a law.

YABU for comparing the two. It's not like he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight!

Just seen this video of him visiting a vaccination centre today he looks totally fucked and haunted.

Boris has been known to do the 100KM London bike rides so I would imagine that 20 miles or so (14 mile round trip plus a lap or two of the Olympic park) would be a walk in the park for him. It's good that he is setting an example of getting out and exercising safely and sensibly.

My mum has also had both her COVID shots, and she's not related to anyone with a public profile. But she is 86.

Apologies wrong video but a very funny one nevertheless here is the BJ one

It's been made quite clear that driving to exercise is only an exception for a small group of people...neither of them fell into that category.

Not in the guidance or the law. I presume you’re not in England? We have nothing about exercise needing to start and finish at home.

How many parks did Boris Johnson pass to get to that park? The police seem to be redefining 'local' to mean 'nearest', which they shouldn't of course. My countryside walk is less than 7 miles away, so now I feel OK driving there, even though I have to pass a dog toilet where humans are the bait small park that is nearer.

This is the problem with divisional messaging, it encourages endless toxic sniping.

@HesterShaw1

Yes walking is exercise, but nobody needs to drive 5 miles to start doing it.

Oh rubbish! And the point of the outcry is that the police response was so bafflingly over the top, when there are actual bloody crimes to be tackled.

What's rubbish? You don't need to drive 5 miles to walk. That's a fact.

If exercise starts and finishes from home, it's fine. Runners will easily run seven miles, and surely no-one expects them to do a 10k run by running up and down their road 100 times.

@lazeeboy

How many parks did Boris Johnson pass to get to that park? The police seem to be redefining 'local' to mean 'nearest', which they shouldn't of course. My countryside walk is less than 7 miles away, so now I feel OK driving there, even though I have to pass a dog toilet where humans are the bait small park that is nearer.

Most London parks you can only cycle through, not around. ie the paths in them are mostly for pedestrians.

It feels local to me but I suppose the issue is it is left for people to decide what local is. I think other countries (Ireland maybe?) have actually defined what local is, 5 km or something I think. I would much prefer it if they did it, we like to walk at local beach which is 1.1 miles away and last time couldn't use the car park and people in the road approaching the beach threatening to burst people's tyres if they parked in their road. Would be much better to have clarity so we all know where we are, people who are reluctant to go to far and people who will push it and say 20 miles is local.

7 miles is nothing, especially if you live in London. My commute to work is 6 miles and it takes me less time than the tube. I don’t even count that as exercising... if you’re a regular cyclist a regular bike ride could easily be 50 miles. As long as you’re not going into cafes etc I don’t see how it is remotely relevant.

If exercise starts and finishes from home, it's fine .That might be fine for most people but my husband is disabled and we live on a steep hill so we need to drive, albeit a short distance, so he can walk somewhere flat. It is hard to cover everything.

“You must not drive to exercise” or “exercise must start and finish at home” are the new “you can’t exercise for more than an hour” for this lockdown.

People need to stop making things up.

What the Guidance says, rather than what you want it to say:
"outdoor exercise. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space)"

So if Boris did travel that is fine, but it is also fine for the rest of us, so can someone ask that the police read the Guidance too, please?

@ancientgran

If exercise starts and finishes from home, it's fine .That might be fine for most people but my husband is disabled and we live on a steep hill so we need to drive, albeit a short distance, so he can walk somewhere flat. It is hard to cover everything.

I get that. And I've driven to exercise recently, too.

I'm just saying that much as I despise the man, I don't think he's done anything wrong in this instance, and that it's not comparable to driving seven miles and then walking (whether or not the latter is right or wrong)

Difference between Boris and those women (and I’m not saying they should have been fined), is they drove 5 miles, then got out of their cars and went and got coffees before starting their “exercise”!

Boris, on the other hand, left home (presumably) by bicycle and was continually exercising the whole time he was out! Any idiot can see the difference in the 2 scenarios!

@PurpleDaisies
"Local” is not defined precisely anywhere.

Gov UK:
"Stay local means stay in the village, town or part of the city where you live."

Any idiot can see the difference in the 2 scenarios!

Both those scenarios are within the law and the guidance.

"Stay local means stay in the village, town or part of the city where you live."

That is open to interpretation.

I'm more concerned about why he's travelled to Bristol to visit a vaccination clinic whilst telling everyone to work from home and not to go out unnecessarily or travel outside of your local area. I know it's 'work' but it wasn't a necessary journey.