One of the UK’s top police chiefs blasted “Super Saturday” and said that “drunk people” cannot socially distance themselves from others.
Federation Police Chief John Apter said, whilst he was on duty in Southampton he and his officers dealt with “naked men, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights and more angry drunks.”
Hancock: “I’m pleased with the results, eveyone was social distancing.” #SuperSaturday #pubsopen
— Nicole Williams 💎 (@NicoleWills95) July 5, 2020
The Police Chief said it was “crystal clear” pubgoers will not adhere to social distancing instructions, whilst out drinking.
Apter added, “It was a busy night, but the shift managed to cope.
“I know other areas have had issues with officers being assaulted.”
In Soho, central London thousands gathered with pictures and footage appearing to show zero social distancing in the streets.
When Germany, Spain, Italy opened their bars we seen absolutely nothing like this.
Why are the English so self centred, disrespectful and inconsiderate?
Yes go for a drink, maybe 2. Stick to the rules, see your friends then go home. #PubsOpening #pubsopen pic.twitter.com/vhibSAyJZd
— Antonio Mango (@AntonioMango4) July 5, 2020
Rafal Liszewski, a store manager at Clonezone on Soho’s Old Compton Street in London, said the crowds were “out of control.”
He told PA news agency, “Saturday started very easy. But you could feel tension in the air.
“Around 1pm crowds started to arrive.
“Quickly everything got out of control and by 8-9 pm it was a proper street party with people dancing and drinking.
“Barely anyone was wearing masks and nobody respected social distancing.
“To be honest with that many people on one street it was physically impossible.”
The government want us to get angry at these people, not at their failure on testing or track and trace and all the other failures that have led to 60000 deaths and that would have made this safe.
They want us to blame people not them but this is on them. pic.twitter.com/JbMjieUfIf— David Schneider (@davidschneider) July 4, 2020
Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “pleased” with the behaviour of most people as pubs reopened.
Hancock said, “From what I’ve seen, although there’s some pictures to the contrary, very very largely people have acted responsibly.
“Overall, I’m pleased with what happened yesterday.
“But of course, we’ll take action when we need to when… if the minority break the rules.”
I know how difficult it can be to follow the rules, so I'd like to thank everyone for their hard work in helping us to pursue our herd immunity policy. #pubsopen #SecondWave pic.twitter.com/w3ypefYMJH
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) July 5, 2020
People who did not social distance, Hancock said, “Well we’ll, of course, keep this very closely under review, and you’ve seen for instance in Leicester but also in other places that we don’t shirk from bringing in more drastic measures if that is what’s needed to control the virus.”
Speaking on Friday, England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said, “None of us believe, and I’m sure nobody watching this believes, this is a risk-free next step. It is absolutely not, that is why we have to be really serious about it.
“There’s no doubt these are environments whose principal job it is to bring people together, that’s a great thing to do socially but it’s also a great thing from the virus’s point of view.
“Therefore, we do have to have a really clear and really disciplined approach to try and maintain social distancing whilst also enjoying pubs.”
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