Police would be in 'impossible' position to enforce future Covid restrictions, believe Sheffield officers

South Yorkshire police officers fear Prime Minister Boris Johnson attending parties at Downing Street will make it impossible to police future Covid restrictions.
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The Prime Minister admitted attending a party in the Downing Street Garden on May 20 last year, and apologised in parliament, claiming he thought it was a work event.

More claims of parties in Downing Street emerged today, as it emerged there was a leaving party at Downing Street the night before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, when parties were still banned. There is no suggestion the Prime Minister attended on that occasion.

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Steve Kent, chairman of the South Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation, which represents rank and file police officers in the local force, warned he feared officers would not now be able to enforce future lockdowns.

He said: “What this makes absolutely clear is that this has made any future restriction enforcement pretty much impossible.

"This period has been a hugely challenging period for policing and it continues to be with normal policing demand being very high and the Police having to support our colleagues in the NHS and social services sector increasingly as the isolation crisis continuea.

"From speaking to members of the public, it is absolutely clear that any further restrictions would not be supported or adhered to in the same way that they have previously.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, gestures as he records an address to the nation at Downing Street, London, to provide an update on the booster vaccine programme. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire. South Yorkshire police officers fear Prime Minister Boris Johnson attending parties at Downing Street will make it impossible to police  future Covid restrictions.Prime Minister Boris Johnson, gestures as he records an address to the nation at Downing Street, London, to provide an update on the booster vaccine programme. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire. South Yorkshire police officers fear Prime Minister Boris Johnson attending parties at Downing Street will make it impossible to police  future Covid restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, gestures as he records an address to the nation at Downing Street, London, to provide an update on the booster vaccine programme. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire. South Yorkshire police officers fear Prime Minister Boris Johnson attending parties at Downing Street will make it impossible to police  future Covid restrictions.
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"Therefore policing of the public by consent, which is what we do in the UK would mean our officers would be in an impossible position. And from my perspective they shouldn’t be put in that position going forward by a government who have unfortunately set this tone.”

Several MPs have called for the Prime Minister to resign over the parties scandal including a number from his own Conservative Party.

He told parliament he had attended the party on May 20 for around 25 minutes to thank Downing Street staff for their hard work.

He told MPs: “With hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside, I should have found some other way to thank them, and I should have recognised that even if it could be said technically to fall within the guidance, there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way.”