In the wake of the Dominic Cummings row many lives could be at risk should the public refuse to follow health advice.
Senior Tory members have warned on Thursday that the Cummings breach of the lockdown, that there is much anger and a lower appetite to follow the rules.
Many MPs across the House of Commons are very concerned that Cummings conduct could undermine the crucial government messaging.
On Sunday Dominic Cummings gave his car crash interview with the press after giving a statement over his actions.
Since then there has been a UK-wide backlash over his actions as millions of people who were in similar circumstances stayed at home.
The chairman of the Commons Northern Ireland committee told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “that we are already seeing it,” in response to some members of the public not following the rules.
The chairman said, “Beauty spots in Dorset this Bank Holiday weekend and indeed during this half-term week, great snaking queues of cars waiting to get into car parks, beaches full, beauty spots very busy.
“People are annoyed … they see nothing exceptional in the circumstances that Mr Cummings set out before us in the Rose Garden.”
When asked if he fears that as a result of the anger brewing and a lowered appetite to follow public advice, coronavirus could spread further, and lives may be lost.
He warned, “That has to be a risk.
“Let’s pray that it does not happen.”
He further warned, that if the R rate starts rise then the brakes need to be reapplied, “then it has to be surely a legitimate fear based upon what so many thousands of people up and down the country are saying that they will not abide either in whole or in part to any new lockdown regime.”
A lawyer has warned that there could now be endless debates in courts across the UK with members of the public using the “Cummings Defence.”
Raj Chada, head of the criminal defence department and a partner at firm Hodge Jones and Allen, said Cummings defence will not set any formal precedent and will not mean people can automatically appeal against fines or convictions.
However, Chada reiterated concerns of the regulations that are in place as they are “vague” and “subject to challenge.”
He told the PA news agency, “However, it will be used in court endlessly about what ‘reasonable excuse’ constitutes.
“A client will say in court, ‘I had childcare difficulties just like Dominic Cummings‘.
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