How have some people got away with openly and consistently breaking the rules throughout the past year?

[MadameQuaver]

I am friends on FB with a woman who is the wife of someone that DH knows.

During the past year she and her husband have constantly broken lockdown and social distancing laws and guidelines. Things that they have done include:

Several holidays with no sign of isolating afterwards, including jetting off to Dubai at Christmas until mid January when our area was in a Tier 4. There was no sign of isolation when they got home, according to her social media.

They've had regular dinner parties, cocktail parties and pool parties at their house. Again, photos plastered all over Facebook and Instagram. Zero masks and social distancing, and probably in excess of 15 guests attending each event. The woman (not sure about whether the man has done this too but more than likely has) has also continued to see her mum, stepfather, father, stepmother, sisters and nieces and nephews throughout lockdowns.

The woman appears to have regularly had her hair, nails and fillers done.

She has just posted on FB that her husband has surprised her with a weekend away and is currently being whisked off to Ibiza for a long weekend, which is on the Amber list. I can guarantee they will not isolate when they get home like they are supposed to. They have kids of school age so will have to do school runs etc and will probably just carry on socialising as per usual.

How have people got away with it? I find it all a bit sickening tbh.

This is the way madness lies though - you can only keep yourself right, and it’s up to her to do what she thinks is best. That’s her choice. I guess you could report her, or could have done, but I don’t think anyone wants to live in a world where we snitch on our neighbours.

@Pumperthepumper

This is the way madness lies though - you can only keep yourself right, and it’s up to her to do what she thinks is best. That’s her choice. I guess you could report her, or could have done, but I don’t think anyone wants to live in a world where we snitch on our neighbours.

My point is though really that most of us wouldn't get away with breaking the law like that.

I'm sure if I'd have had friends round during a lockdown, or gone off on holiday when we were Tier 4 I'd have got caught, in trouble for it, and fined.

Dunno OP.

Luck? Bribing local law enforcement?

Friends with Bill Gates?

You'd only have been 'caught' if you were surrounded by interfering idiots.

Even the police asked people to stop reporting 'rule breakers'.

If they are fairly well off they are probably not bothered by fines, fining as punishment is just there to keep the plebs in line, you only have to look at the so called celebrities doing as they want to see this.

@lughnasadh

You'd only have been 'caught' if you were surrounded by interfering idiots.

Even the police asked people to stop reporting 'rule breakers'.

On the other hand, I've read stories of police turning up to houses to check that the occupants are quarantining after travelling abroad...

I agree it's out of order when many of us have stayed home and stayed local. Maybe they just haven't been affected at all with illness/loss of wages.

You'll get told on here that you're being nosey and should keep out of it.

I'm surprised they posted stuff on social media tbh. rather than just keep quiet.

What exactly are you looking for from posting this OP? If it bothered you that much, why didn't you do something about it when it was happening? Personally I don’t have the headspace to be watching and keeping tabs on what other people do; I’m too busy minding my own business.

@Randominternetbitch

What exactly are you looking for from posting this OP? If it bothered you that much, why didn't you do something about it when it was happening? Personally I don’t have the headspace to be watching and keeping tabs on what other people do; I’m too busy minding my own business.

I haven't been keeping tabs. She's been plastering it all over social media.

I know very well-off people who have posted photos on social media of their indoor socialising and stays with family during restrictions that did not allow this.

I do think less of them for feeling they don't need to obey the rules. They can afford the fines, go on about their mental health, and ultimately think they are a special case to whom the rules don't apply.

Also went right off a family I know who went to Maldives at Christmas, when the Tier system was in place and our area was Tier 4 so in theory not allowed to leave the local area let alone leave the country/continent. That was the government's fault for allowing holidays abroad while the rest of us couldn't even get a haircut legally!

As pps said, just move on and focus on your own situation. If their behaviour offends you, cut them off, no contact, don't follow their social media etc. They won't care either way, but it will help your mood not to have these idiots in your life.

They got away with it because the home office told the police to focus on the little people driving 5 miles for a country/coastal walk. That went on for weeks and weeks and caused misery for people whose behaviour was no risk for Covid transmission whatsoever. While many others were going on foreign holidays, not quarantining etc. without any police involvement.

“They got away with it because the home office told the police to focus on the little people driving 5 miles for a country/coastal walk. That went on for weeks and weeks and caused misery for people whose behaviour was no risk for Covid transmission whatsoever. While many others were going on foreign holidays, not quarantining etc. without any police involvement.”

Yes utter madness! Ive no idea why the police focussed on people exercising outside! I’ve also no idea why the government couldn’t clamp down on people travelling abroad from tier 4 areas!

The powers that be know they’re stepping over a line in banning things like indoor socialising and they understand they can’t enforce it too stringently otherwise there would be riots.

They’re relying on people to do as they’re told without question and a certain amount have done that. Strong enforcement policies around what people do in their own homes were never on the cards.

@RedRiverShore

If they are fairly well off they are probably not bothered by fines, fining as punishment is just there to keep the plebs in line, you only have to look at the so called celebrities doing as they want to see this.

There's that, they might have had a couple of fines and not been bothered

The going abroad thing - that wasn't illegal?

Unfortunately i think most people were doing something whichis why we have kept having waves
Ive observed
Having hairdressers round
Having play dates (involving being in the car - in fact 2 kids on one day)
Trips with grandparends again in car.
It started once the people realised their personal risk was low.
In fact now restrictions have loosened most kids seem to be going home with someone else.
Oh and scouts etc sleepover day where on video they had other class dc too. Yes they may well be in a childcare bubble- but this was a weekend! And they dont work it.

It seems ridiculous really some dc have been isolated whilst others were still having all their mates round.

@RedRiverShore

If they are fairly well off they are probably not bothered by fines, fining as punishment is just there to keep the plebs in line, you only have to look at the so called celebrities doing as they want to see this.

Totally agree

And don’t forget OP when the government reduced the severity of covid on their own website on March 19 2020 a lot of people took this as a sign to be a lot more relaxed about the rules and restrictions
Well we certainly did on the ones that didn’t make sense.

Here

Most of DD16s friends never stopped having friends over for sleepovers, parties etc. It did piss me off but you can't control other peoples actions. Last year at first it felt like everyone was in this together (albeit in many different situations personally) so when people carried on doing what the rest of us 'couldn't' and possibly in doing so held us all back I guess resentment will breed. The combination of Brexit and Covid has really split this country.

Fil went to dubai for work in December. He was contacted by landline every day by some government department on his return to check he was quarantining for 10 days.

Worth posting though!

And when the ridiculous £10k fines came in
Most ot the lower income people just laughed in its face
As in you can’t get blood out of a stone kind of way

Afaik, most fines were thrown out of court anyway as they weren’t underpinned by law
They were only guidance

Law lord Jonathan sumption took great pains to remind us that only laws passed by parliament were binding

What wanksock and cronies did was illegal and therefore wouldn’t stand up in court