One law for the rich, another for the poor.

[notrub]

Piers Corbyn twice defied the police and organised non-socially distanced demonstrations. He got away scot free.

Nurses hold a small socially distanced demo - arrested and fined £10k. I'll wager more than £10k that THAT fine doesn't get thrown out in court.

Is Piers Corbyn rich?

How has Piers Corbyn got away with anything? He's not in Court until May.

The £10k penalties were only legislated for relatively recently, no?

One could make the point that nurses should know better than to encourage gatherings and social mixing. Why should they be above the law based on being NHS workers?

I felt the same to hear of a friend's 19yo who was fined £800 for going to a party, reduced to £400 if he could pay within 21 days.
Silly / naughty boy I know, but how is that fair; that students (or their families) who can lay their hands on £400 quickly can get away with paying half the fine of someone who can't?

@Myalternate

How has Piers Corbyn got away with anything? He's not in Court until May.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/piers-corbyn-lockdown-protest-hyde-park-b1765368.html

@Kgrzghtechh

The £10k penalties were only legislated for relatively recently, no?

One could make the point that nurses should know better than to encourage gatherings and social mixing. Why should they be above the law based on being NHS workers?

Nurses should just suck it up and be grateful eh - they got clapped for every week, what more do they deserve??

I wonder which paper YOU read lol

www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/piers-corbyn-charged-anti-lockdown-protests-coronavirus-b921659.html

Ooh you meant Piers Corbyn...for some reason I read it as Piers Morgan and I was wondering why on Earth he was organising a protest...
As you were...

@DingoWings

I felt the same to hear of a friend's 19yo who was fined £800 for going to a party, reduced to £400 if he could pay within 21 days. Silly / naughty boy I know, but how is that fair; that students (or their families) who can lay their hands on £400 quickly can get away with paying half the fine of someone who can't?

Isn’t that the problem with non-means tested fines full stop? If you’ve got the money you can, in fact, pay to break the law. Hence the number of Lamborghinis parked on double-yellow lines outside Harrods.

Fines as a punishment have always been a way of allowing the rich to do what they want and keep the plebs in line, no different for Covid.

Yes a fine has always simply meant "this is okay for rich people".

*Nurses should just suck it up and be grateful eh - they got clapped for every week, what more do they deserve??

I wonder which paper YOU read lol*

I don't think @Kgrzghtechh was saying they don't deserve to be angry at the payrise they have been offered, they do, absolutely have the right to protest.

But so did BLM, so did students made to pay full fees and accommodation, students being locked in their dorms guarded by security. But it didn't stop the majority on here calling them murderous selfish bastards who should give up any right to treatment should they get sick.

Lots of us said at the time that taking away the right to protest, making it criminal, was so wrong and we were all called snowflakes and look where we are now....

So I'm guessing she was just making a point about that.

Totally agree @LivinLaVidaLoki

About 25 years ago there was a brief dalliance with "day fines" = you were fined so many days income. However, quite a lot of people who come to court have a very low income minimum wage or social security, Therefore many "day fines" were tiny, and the relatively well off (ie average income) were outraged at how small the fines were, which they were by their standards, and the experiment was pretty quickly scrapped.