Do you think police where right to fine for this?

[TheFakePlantIsTheOnlyOneILike]

Family Member (FM) just called me about this and I couldn’t be sympathetic and wondering if I was in the wrong to not be.

FM was fined £200 by police for travelling out of area to go shopping. She travelled about 30 miles. FM lives in the same town as me, in our town we have a b+m with a small food department, an Aldi which is basically opposite b+m, a Morrisons (it’s not one of the small local ones, but it’s not a massive store either) plus an array of local butchers, greengrocers, and a shop that sells herbs and spices, all open for business (I know as I use them). I have never struggled to get anything foodwise.

FM is going to appeal against the fine for the following reasons, they say they’re only meant to go to one shop and:

• They can’t get everything they want in b+m
• Morrisons is too expensive
• They don’t like Aldi
• She’d have to go to more than 1 shop if she went to a butchers or the greengrocers (ignoring the fact that one of the butchers has teamed up with a greengrocer and they’re selling each others produce in boxes for purchase so you only have to go to one place)

So I know this isn’t AIBU but AIBU to think the police were right to fine her as she could easily get everything she needed in town?

What are everyones thoughts?

Getting to work is exempt.

Exactly. I assume going to buy food or make other essential purchases is also allowed, unless people are expected to starve if they can't get shopping delivered. So plenty of people still moving around. Waste of time, enormous hassle to enforce at all, impossible to enforce effectively. That sort of thing is purely for show.

They must have been doing something right. Infection rates are really low.

So what is an acceptable limit for visiting a supermarket?

I prefer to go to Costco every two weeks about 18 miles which is obviously not as close as my local supermarket. Everyone is more spaced out, they are much better at enforcing the rules and I can bulk buy so I don’t need to keep going to the supermarket. Is this allowed? It would be better if the rules were clearer so people know exactly what the limits are.

It would be better if they concentrated on people who are intentionally breaking the rules like having house parties and big social gatherings.

Yes, but if I had to guess I'd say that was more about the robust test and trace system and the strict border controls that were introduced pretty early. Maybe the comparatively low population density plays into it, as has been speculated.
Lots of European countries also had arbitrary distance limits and it doesn't seem to have done that much for them. It's very difficult to tease out correlation and causation in all the nations' different strategies, but there is nothing that makes me think arbitrary distance limits are of any real value, especially such a tiny distance where almost everybody would be exempt and moving around much further anyway.

@Beaniecats

Welcome to our police state

This.

The legislation doesn't limit travel, nor should it. She should appeal on that basis. No one should need to explain their shopping habits or preferences.

So legally anyone can travel as far as they like for pretty much any reason, bit like Dominic Cummings did.

I couldn’t be arsed to trek that far for a supermarket but it’s fine and legal. Better she goes to one supermarket than mooches around multiple ones.