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Boris Johnson opens CS5Boris Johnson accused of breaking lockdown with Olympic Park bike ride – even though he did not appear to break law
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been accused on social media of breaking lockdown restrictions after he was reportedly seen yesterday cycling in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, some seven miles from Downing Street – although the law in England places no limits on how far people can travel for exercise.
The London Evening Standard says that the Conservative politician was wearing a face mask Transport for London hat as he rode a bike in the park in Stratford, accompanied by security staff, at around 2pm yesterday afternoon.
The newspaper notes that government guidance on exercise during lockdown in England is that you can only do so once a day, and “you should not travel outside your local area.”
However, the paper makes no mention of the regulations themselves, which unlike the guidance are enforceable at law, and which do not contain any such restrictions.
> Cycling dos and don'ts in a time of pandemic – how to be a responsible cyclist
The barrister Martin Porter QC pointed out that the Prime Minister had done nothing wrong, responding to a tweet from the newspaper columnist and radio host, Julia Hartley-Brewer.
I don’t consider myself the PM’s greatest fan but he has done nothing at all wrong here. His Government correctly encourages exercise. He is in better shape now than he was last April. Good for him. https://t.co/6xT2TLhaSR
— Martin Porter QC (@MartinPorter6) January 11, 2021
Mr Johnson was reported to have been “concerned” about the number of families he saw exercising in the park, which hosted the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games when he was the city’s mayor.
According to an unnamed source quoted by the Evening Standard, he had visited the park to undertake exercise, but commented on how busy it was at an emergency meeting with cabinet colleagues last night.
“He was concerned about if people were following the rules and was concerned after his cycle ride around the park,” the source added.
Media reports today suggest that lockdown rules are set to be further tightened, possibly including preventing people from meeting with someone from outside their household to undertake exercise, which is currently permitted.
The Prime Minister came under further criticism today when he travelled 100 miles to a new COVID-19 vaccination centre in Bristol.
Asked why he had undertaken the journey, he said that it was “essential that I explain to the public what we are doing to roll out the mass vaccination centres”.
Mr Johnson added: “Everybody should be asking themselves whether they need to be leaving home, whether they need to be doing something that could actually end up spreading the disease.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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31 comments
I wonder how many of the people slagging Boris off for being 7 milkes from home on his bike regularly go out for a 50 mile training ride? Or walk in the park with too many people, no masks etc? How many people who contribute to Road.cc go out on their bike for more than 7 miles?
It seems there are a hell of a lot of people who love to slag Boris off, no matter what he does. What I would like to say to them is, why don't they put themselves up for a career in politics if they think they can do better? It's easy to slag someone off from the anonymous comfort of their sofa, hidden behind their keypad.
My wife and I are key workers, we have worked all the way through, have not had a holiday since June 2019, and are sick of this virus and all it's restrictions. Life is simply a constant sleep, eat, work, hamster wheel. But we have to carry on to beat this. Stick to the rules, remember that many other countries are having a terrible time of it, yet I don't hear anyone slagging off Macron, Merkel etc. I'm not a big fan of Boris, but give the man a break. He became Prime Minister, and only a few short weeks later this pandemic hit. He's made mistakes, what country hasn't? For Hartley-Brewer to try to make a story out of him cycling, that really is scraping the barrel.
I find it far worse that after catching the virus once and being a close contact and isolating another time a man who spends his life around a lot of people is even allowed in a vaccine centre full of vulnerable people. Complete idiot.
The law on this is deliberately vague with many loopholes to allow people who can afford expensive lawyers to get away with it. Just like the rest of the law. Taking this into account it is the example set by our leaders which becomes very important. Unfortunately in this and in many other circumstances our leaders set the example of "look after number one" and, unfortunately, this is what most people will do from now on.
My main objection is his visit to Bristol. There is no way this can be considered essential from a societal view point but from a self promotion view point it would be highly desireable. Yet another example of do as I say and not as I do.
Finally, the two Derbyshire ladies and Boris should have cycled from home if their goal was to get some exercise.
At least some things are constant as Hatefilled-Spewer continues to make a tit of herself.
This is a divisive and unhelpful story (in the press in general, not specifically here), that cannot help cyclists. I am no fan whatsoever of our current PM, but this is a provocative/clickbait storm in a teacup.
There's nothing in the story, but given that Johnson has spent several years advancing his own career by being deliberately divisive over Brexit, I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest.
In case you've forgotten, according to him the best way to honour murdered [anti-Brexit] MP Jo Cox was to "get Brexit done". He really plumbs the depths.
This story is about him cycling. This is nothing to do with Brexit.
This is clearly fake news. There's no way he'd go there to ride a bike, ironically the Olympic Park is easily 'the worst' place to ride a bike, it's full of major roads, construction work and dodgy cycling infrastructure.
I think that the issue is that he drove 7 miles to get there. Shortly after a well-publicised case where the Derbyshire police fined two women for driving 5 miles to a park in order to exercise.
Johnson has learnt nothing from the Dominic Cummings saga. Matt Hancock must be furious. He spent all morning telling people not to flex the guidance and then his boss does exactly that. Latest response from Downing St 'he didn't break any rules'. You couldn't make it up.
Fines now rescinded for the people in that case, guidance to police forces now updated to not include a limit on distance traveled, because there's nothing in the law about it. Expect that to change soon now
Shortly after a well-publicised case where the Derbyshire police fined two women for driving 5 miles to a park in order to exercise.
The police have now rescinded the penalty notice and apologised to the women concerned. I yield to no-one in my hatred of Lancashie Constabulary, but even I think the police have been given a very difficult job over this aspect of enforcement. The guidance again, just as in the first lockdown, is clearly that there is no legal limit to the distance travelled in motor vehicles prior to exercise. This certainly clears solo cyclists for cycling as far as they like, which is reasonable.
Lancashire Police are a disgrace. I was almost killed on Sunday by a crazy driver on a roundabout. I reported it, the operator kept trying to talk me out of pursuing it, she kept telling me there would be nothing they couldn't do as they wouldn't be able to use my high quality HD footage as evidence, as there 'wasn't enough evidence'. Hmm. I will be complaining to the PSD about them. Once I am able to, I will ensure that the footage is sent to Road.cc. It was the most horrendous near miss I have ever had, I thought, this is it, I was going to be underneath the wheels, and after 40 years of cycling I am now having thoughts about giving up cycling on the roads for the first time ever, it shook me up so much. When I insisted on sending them the footage the operator told me that I shouldn't expect a reply. What an absolute shower they are. And I used to be a Police volunteer for them. I wouldn't help them ever again.
The BBC said that Downing St are being evasive on how he got to the park. If he cycled there I have no problems. If he was driven there it's a different matter entirely.
Hmm. How did the reporters get there?
OK, but then they'd probably say it was their job to be out and about seeing the state of things at first hand...
My issue is that he may have travelled out of his local area for the purpose of exercise. Not as we know illegal but I think we are agreed that it's against the guidance and I would certainly say that it's 'flexing'.
The Guardian reporter lives locally (we're in the same Facebook group).
The BBC are hell bent on trying to dig up as much shit for the Conservatives as possible. I refuse to watch BBC news any more. I have just this week turned my radio off at work too, as the BBC news on Radio 2 keep making the headline story something they have dredged up about Boris and the Tories, helpfully backed up by an interview from a shadow minister who just slags them off. Talk about impartiality. They are a fucking disgrace, they have even started giving that fuckwit Starmer airtime to address the nation.
Wow. Airtime for the leader of the main opposition party? The bastards.
I've got no problem with him going for a bike ride in the park, but if his attitude is 'it's fine for me, but what are all these other people doing here?' then he is a monumental jerk.
Went round the local park this afternoon and saw 2 Mums having a socially distanced walk, each with their 3 kids - except none of them were socially distancing. As the kids were young, you have 8 people mixing, all within the guidelines I think.
Depending on age of kids it might be in the Scottish guidelines but not in English ones unless they are in a support bubble.
Children under a certain age (12 i think) are not counted in Scotland. In England they are.
You're right - it's not allowed in England; you can only exercise with one other person if you are on your own. They are definately not a support bubble!
It's more complicated than that !
-----------------
(c)to take exercise outside—
(i)alone,
(ii)with—
(aa)one or more members of their household, their linked household, or
(bb)where exercise is being taken as part of providing informal childcare for a child aged 13 or under, one or more members of their linked childcare household
............
(b)sub-paragraph (2)(c)(iii) , no account is to be taken of a carer or a child below the age of five,
provided that, in either case, there are no more than two people present in the capacity of carer.
--------------------------
2 mums 6 children might be ok, might not be hard to say without questioning them.
I guess it needs to be more flexible, as if you were a single parent with young kids, you would not be able to meet anyone else outside for exercise without arranging childcare otherwise. I won't be questioning them!
Sorry, what now?
Probably
Exception 3: gatherings necessary for certain purposes
(4) Exception 3 is that the gathering is reasonably necessary—
(a)for work purposes or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services;
Or he is an elite sportsman !
Erm - did you intend that as a reply to OldRidgeBack?
Oh yeah. Oops
If he was cycling with his security detail then he was breaking the law if they're not part of his home bubble.
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