Conservative MP Demands Lockdown Breaching Fines to be Refunded

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: A police officer fines a protester as people demonstrate against
Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images
Nathaniel Charles

A Conservative MP has proposed a ‘Freedom Bill’ which calls for refunds for people who received fines for minor coronavirus lockdown breaches.

Andrew Percy who has been the Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole since 2010, has called for a ‘Freedom Bill’ that will refund individuals who received a coronavirus fine for minor breaches of the British coronavirus restrictions, such as meeting with friends from different households in lockdown.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday  Percy branded “a lot of” the government’s coronavirus lockdown measures as “ineffective”, and said it was imperative to “avoid” a situation where the government can instruct “individual citizens” on who “they have a right to meet in their own family and friendship group”.

Percy also criticised the effects of the lockdown restrictions saying it turned everyday Brits into “snoopers” and divided people creating an environment where “neighbour turned on neighbour”. The MP did however add he didn’t “criticise” people who reported their neighbours to the police for lockdown breaches — for offences such as having their “dad over in the garden” — as he believed they genuinely “thought they were helping the fight against coronavirus”.

The Brigg and Goole MP also highlighted the negative effects of lockdown on disrupting “support systems” and the negative effect it had on “mental health”.

Despite Percy’s criticism of the restrictions, he did however state that he believes they were “absolutely necessary at the time”.

Percy concluded his comments by suggesting the fine amnesty should come in at the same time all the restrictions are lifted in Britain, which is currently set for the 24th of March 2022.

The National Police Chief’s Council reports that in England and Wales there were a total of “118,438 fixed penalty notices for breaches under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 and subsequent amendments” from when fines were introduced in 2020 and up until October 2021. The current number of fines issues will be higher, but the figures for November 2021 to January 2022 have not been released as of yet.

Coronavirus-related fines were given to British citizens for a variety of reasons ranging from not wearing masks on public transport to attending anti-lockdown protests, and in one case four men were fined £200 each for “looking at the snow“.

The government had been under increased pressure to remove the remaining coronavirus restrictions following the revelation that there had been multiple breaches of coronavirus restrictions from senior government figures, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as other top Conservatives such as former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey.

The latest scandal to emerge from Number 10 was the reporting of “Wine time Fridays” being held throughout the pandemic which was often attended by Johnson himself as well as staffers. These gatherings were allegedly prohibited under coronavirus legislation, which banned different households from socially mixing.

As of yet the government has not received any fines from London’s metropolitan police for breaking the very rules they created.

The revelation of the repeated scandals has caused some Conservative Party MPs to turn on their leadership, with multiple Tory MPs calling for Johnson to resign. In the latest update, Jane Hunt MP, a Junior Minister, is alleged to have said to Number 10’s Chief of Staff Dan Rosenfield, “I wouldn’t p*ss on you if you were on fire”, at a meeting discussing the future of the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson.

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