As London was plummeted into Tier 4 there was mass evacuation from those who did not want to be stuck in the city which would be under the strictest lock down regime in the entire country. Swarms of people could be seen climbing into trains and tubes trying to get away from the infected capital city. In retrospect it seems stupidly insane that when it is announced a new strain of covid-19 has a higher chance of being spread from person to person that people subsequently cram into public transport in order to get away from it. But, if you look at little closer maybe it’s not Covid everyone is trying to get away from but instead the more draconian measures the government has put in place to try and restore long term normality within the country.

The announcement of tier 4 restrictions seems a little counter productive if everyone is going to run out of the city the moment plans are announced. Therefore, could something different have solved the issue of mass cramming and did the law need to brought in to ensure that the transitioning of cities to different Covid tiers took place as smooth as possible? All these questions will be explored below.

Personally, I think announcing beforehand that London was about to enter tier 4 was a huge mistake. Tier 4 announcements should have been made and the city should have shut the moment the announcement was made. London should have never been a tier 2 city in the first place considering it’s one of the most densely populated areas in the entire country and houses large numbers of foreign nationals who travel between countries to see family. However, the debate is not whether London was placed in the correct tier but could the government done something differently to make transitioning easier?

In that case immediate travel to other cities should have been prohibited and police should have been stationed at popular train stations to check the reasoning for travel with exceptional cases being deemed fit to travel between cities. If the government wanted to reduce the waste of police time checking the reasoning for travel then it would have been easier to announce tier 4 either immediately to restrict movement instantly or way in advance to ensure that there was not a direct rush to get out before the shutters came down. Giving travellers enough time before they were informed London was to be in tier 4 would have ensured that gradual movement of people could have taken place rather than the current chaotic scenes that recently took place.

In regard to the law, currently the average person can only view legislation with frustration and apprehension with most recent laws being restrictive in nature and not necessarily progressive and optimistic. Covid laws have caused people to question the power of the government and the role of the police force in limiting people’s freedoms. Therefore, I do not necessarily believe the introduction of more Covid laws would have alleviated tensions between the public and the government.