I came to the conclusion some years ago that as a country, we are fundamentally quite unpleasant actually. Of course we have our good points but there are far, far, far too many utter wankers in our society. We are in large proportion, self-centred, arrogant, rebellious and basically not very nice. Witnessing the countless scenes of mass non-compliance with Covid restrictions, only goes to illustrate the point. It's like it's in our genes to resent authority, to be non-compliant and to ignore rules. It's almost as if it's what defines us as being British.
Which is why I find it so difficult to understand our government's approach, which when compared to that of other countries, can only be described as "let's ask the public nicely if they would be kind enough to do X". OF COURSE this was never going to work.
Other countries have FAR tighter restrictions, and critically, enforcement and punishment. And whilst us Brits seem to want our freedoms more than most, and therefore the government has been loathed to be too Draconian, ironically we need more Draconian measures not less, because of what we are like. More policing (augmented by the army where we don't have enough numbers), stronger policing - none of this softly softly "have a word" bollocks - MUCH bigger fines and even custodial sentences for the worst cases of rule-breaking.
Should we have water canon out on the late night revellers? Of course we should. The rave over the summer near me in Bath was allowed to continue because the police felt there were too many people and they couldn't do much to stop it. What a disgrace. They should have pulled the plug out and arrested the DJ and the organisers. And if they didn't have enough police, mobilise back ups, including the army if needed.
If people want to act like tossers, I am sorry but we have to treat them like tossers. It's not like this is a bit of a laugh. Thousands of lives are at stake and I think the enforcement and punishments are in that context a complete joke.