Thread by @AdamWagner1, Good morning! New lockdown regulations - Tier 4 introduced, Christmas rules changed. [...]

Good morning! New lockdown regulations - Tier 4 introduced, Christmas rules changed. In force 7am today

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers and Obligations of Undertakings) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1611/pdfs/uksi_20201611_en.pdf

Will start with the areas why’d are in Tier 4 as I’m guessing that’s important to people

The only change to Christmas Linked Households for Tiers 1-3 is that they now only apply 25 December (1 day only instead of 5). So rules apply as I have explained previously

See this video - now only applies to 25 December.

I have decided to put back up my Christmas Linked Households video with an update in the description.

- In Tiers 1, 2 and 3: Christmas Gatherings exception only applies for 1 day, 25 December
- In Tier 4 there is no Christmas Gatherings exception at all

Have now read the regulations. Key takeaways:
- Make no mistake: Tier 4 is Lockdown No. 3.
- Pretty much identical restrictions as in November/December national lockdown and similar but more detailed to March lockdown
- So pretty much the same as this https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1323665020392251399?s=20

https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1323665020392251399?s=20

Repeat of complaint from last night - no reason these regulations couldn't have been published weeks ago, they are effectively same (with few small exceptions) to Nov/early Dec lockdown and everyone knew they would be coming. Laying at 6am when they come in at 7 is ridiculous

*sorry, aren't even being laid before (closed!) Parliament until tomorrow. The govt has used the ultra emergency procedure under the Public Health Act to do this so it can technically do it but in my view this breaks its promise to put big national changes to parliament first

If you want to get technical, what these regs do is amend the "All Tiers" regs which are here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1374/contents/made

But since this has all been done in last minute essay crisis mode, you can't read the full thing yet so you have to piece it together from the PDF of amendments

Just going to take the dog for a walk then will be back!

So you aren't all on tenterhooks
- No ban on travel between tiers (as there wasn't in the Nov/Dec national lockdown) so guidance only -sort of, will explain
- New exception for voting
- No picketing and protest exceptions

Have done a track changes comparison between Tier 4 and the Nov/December lockdown. Pretty much the same.

Two key points:
1. Can't leave or be outside your home without a "reasonable excuse". A number of such excuses are listed but, as has been the case with Lockdown 1 and 2, the list is non-exhaustive so open question whether other activities count

2. Can't take part in an gathering of:
- More than 1 person in a private dwelling (includes garden) or any indoor space
- More than 2 people in a 'public outdoor place'
- More than 1 person anywhere else outdoors

[please stop using "2 or more" and "more than 2"! So confusing]

As before, there are a number of listed "reasonable excuses". This is a *non exhaustive*, which is lawyer-language for saying that any 'reasonable excuse' will do, but it is up to the police/courts to decide what those are.

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OK after that non-commercial break, back to the listed "reasonable excuses" for leaving or being outside of your home

Very similar to Nov/Dec lockdown

I won't do them all - just the ones likely to affect a lot of people.

Taking exercise with your household, linked household, or another person not from your household

Open air recreation in a "public outdoor place", with household, linked household, 1 other not from household

Important that children under 5 or carers for disabled people who need continuous care don't count for the gatherings limits

All of these

This is a "public outdoor place"

More important exceptions
- Reasonably necessary for work/charitable/voluntary services where not reasonably possible to do it from home.
- Note this is not restricted to Tier 4, so you can travel between tiers if you fulfil this exception
- Guidance may be stricter on travel

Another really important one -
- seeking medical assistance,
- avoiding injury or illness (which includes mental -and physical illness, in my view - if you need to do something for your mental health, do it),
- attending a person giving birth, visiting person in hospital

Support and respite

Death bed visits and funerals

Marriages/civil partnerships

Loads of exceptions for children - important for many people.
- Linked childcare households still apply
- Supervised childcare activities still allowed (subject to guidance)
- Allowances for separated parents
- Parent and child groups up to 15 people

Students can still move from student accommodation once and then back to student accomodation

Communal worship allowed - this is a change from the Nov/Dec lockdown which only allowed individual worship

Nobody may organise a gathering of over 30 people indoors or in a public outdoor place not operated by a business, charity, benevolent or philanthropic institution

This is the £10,000 fixed penalty notice part

What does this mean for the right to protest. Now it gets a bit complicated.

Basically, these regulations are tighter than the Nov/Dec lockdown regulations.

To cut a long story short, I think it may be possible for a protest to be held in a "public outdoor place"...

... if public outdoor place "operated by a business, charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution" but NOT on other public land.

That's because you can, I think, still organise a "permitted organised gathering" in T4 in those limited circumstances https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1374/regulation/6/made

... But question is whether protest in such circumstances would be an unlisted "reasonable excuse" to leave/be outside home as as the specific exception which applies to Tiers 1, 2 and 3 for protest (and picketing) has been removed for Tier 4.

I believe it probably would be...

... if the courts read together with Articles 10 + 11 (protest and freedom of association) of the European Convention on Human Rights but it's an open question.

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Here's a new exception to the gatherings/reasonable excuse to be outside your home - voting! Good but perhaps an indication that the government expect these restrictions to be in play for many more months, sadly

The business restrictions are really as before in lockdown with a few changes I think.

You have to look a bit further down for what is closed or partially closed

Remember this if you live in Tier 4

Basically, someone who lives in Tier 4
- can't be *anywhere* in England (it would seem) without a reasonable excuse
- can't participate in a gathering of 2 or more people indoors outside the area unless an exception in paras 6/7 apply

So you can travel around the country if any of the exceptions I have referred to above apply. Eg. reasonably necessary for work, to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person, to arrange for child of separated parents to see parent etc. etc.

Not as limited as guidance

Going out for a bit now but will try to answer some of the many Qs when I get back.

Lot of people asking whether overnight stays permitted e.g. to provide care/assistance to vulnerable

No mention of overnight anything in regulations so seems fine as long as reasonably necessary

One more thing people are worried about - Linked Households (support bubbles) still apply to T4 so you can treat your household and linked household as one household, doesn't matter where they are

It is a reasonable excuse to visit member of a linked household, in any tier

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