Footage on social media has shown rail passengers rushing to leave London as Tier 4 was announced yesterday evening.
Tier 4 says that people must not meet other households over the Christmas period and must stay at home.
Harriet Clugston on Twitter shared the below video of passenger queuing to leave London St Pancras.
Harriet said: “As expected, train is crammed. Announcement on tannoy says social distancing “will not be possible” due to volume and to get off if you are not comfortable with that.”
Last train out of Saigon. Queue at St Pancras as we wait to board the Leeds bound train. pic.twitter.com/cFDBDNnYFC
— Harriet Clugston (@HarrietClugston) December 19, 2020
Harriet continued to say that “Every person on this train including myself has made what is probably a very silly and irresponsible decision to travel albeit within the law.”
Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, has said “It is incredibly important that people follow the guidance, stay at home and do not attempt to travel. Our focus must be stopping the spread of this virus, protecting lives and our NHS.
“If you are in Tier 4, the law means you must stay at home and you cannot stay overnight away from home. Across the rest of the country, you must stay local.
“Follow the guidance and please do not come to a station unless you are permitted to travel. Extra BTP officers are being deployed to ensure only those who need to take essential journeys can travel safely.”
“England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said people considering leaving Tier 4 areas now should unpack their bag and stay at home.”
Tier 4 Londoners in St Pancras right now: pic.twitter.com/tOQ39RT4ei
— Sean Spooner (@spoonersean) December 19, 2020
Sir Peter Hendy, Christmas Transport Tsar, has said: “The message is clear – to combat this virus, you must follow the guidance and stay at home.
“At stations we will be deploying extra staff, announcements will make the law clear, and additional BTP officers are in place to ensure that only essential journeys take place.
“People considering driving should also stay at home or stay local. The new restrictions mean that people should not travel into or out of Tier 4 areas, and across the country you should stay local. You should play your part in tackling the spread of this virus.”
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And all that just as when South of England, East of England and Southeast England went into Tier 4. Including London. Terrible.
It’s just stupid people not listening to government guidelines since some parts of England are now in Tier 4. Terrible behaviour.
Like a lot of stories about this terrible pandemic, it was not thought through. This was bound to be the result, a little less playing politics could have shut the railways and all transport links immediately. It is always easy to talk about freedoms, but we have sacrificed so many of those since March, it now hardly matters. As our borders are closing, even within the UK. isolating areas and countries are beginning to look sensible. Until we control the spread we have no way of defeating COVID. I always think mass gatherings like this are irresponsible, but a stronger message and action from our leaders on all sides could have prevented this and cut future cases. The sooner we get tougher the faster we can return to a normal life.
Rather like Saigon in 1975. Are there helicopters on the roof of the US Embassy ?