Would (will?) you snitch on your neighbours?

No, I would not.

I really hope that there is no one on my road that sits and twitches their curtains, looking for infringements and reasons to call the police when they don't actually have full facts of what's going on in other people's houses. What a miserable existence that must be for them, that they have so little going on in their own lives that they've become overly invested in other's. Priti Patel et al would be proud of you Missiseff.

....plus, I work in a busy hospital and know how hard it was treating Covid patients, so out of respect for my colleagues, I 100% don't think twice of reporting the selfish act of others if it makes their job easier in the long run

No. Let’s be mindful that it’s illegal to have more than 6 people at home, but you, and many more, can all mix in the pub! You can also take a flight with 200 strangers. And, as a meme going around points out, 7 children can’t gather to feed the ducks, but thirty or more men can gather together to shoot and kill ducks!

Forget for a moment the personalities of the two involved - Patel and Johnson. What matters is that they are both members of the same government during a deadly pandemic. One of them is telling people to report rule breaking (rules made to protect everyone and try to halt the spread) and the other is undermining the message by suggesting that this is ‘snitching’.
Johnson, in his usual pathetic way of wanting to be popular and one of the boys, is essentially condoning rule breaking by denigrating anyone who reports rule breaking as a ‘snitch’. His colleagues must despair and with mixed messaging like this from the government I can’t see us ever getting on top of this virus.

I live in a small village on the coast in Northumberland. Until “easing”, were and felt save, and when all and sundry descended upon us: tourist, second-home owners and their various family groups. Absolute nightmare. This behaviour should have been stamped on straight away. Would I have snitched you can be certain I would! But as per usual the horse has already bolted.

Well new measures have just been announced for more parts of England. There is also talk of another national lockdown. If people did what was asked of them this might not be happening. My neighbour who had had her son and family in this morning, is now in the house og our 92 year old neighbour. So much for two households not mixing
No I'm not snooping. I can hear them talking.

No. Not my style. Did suspected child abuse many years ago and the consequences are not to be repeated.

sparlkingsilver I am sure shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes were delighted that visitors returned to your village when lockdown was eased.

I am certain they wouldn’t have considered it a ‘nightmare’ as those visitors you complain so bitterly about probably saved their livelihoods.

Why do we continually hear this attitude from some (not all by any means) people who chose to live in a holiday area yet complain when the tourists, the lifeblood of the area, arrive?

We have a holiday home in the West Country and I know by speaking to them that restaurant owners in the village would not be able to survive were it not for the holidaymakers.

We are told repeatedly that the local people don’t eat out enough to keep businesses open.

Only if it was a large gathering. Reporting minor infringements where people have probably used their common sense to assess the risk is likely to be counterproductive.

My house will not see over the 6 that would be allowed, to be honest there is never more than three in my house anyway.

My neighbours can do as they please (they do anyway) as long as they do not make too much excessive noise and bother me then I mind my own business about their lives.

The Gestapo wouldn’t have been so effective if it wasn’t for the ‘snitching’ of the locals

No I would not.....what is this, a police state ?

Fortunately our nearest neighbours are half a mile away so they can do what they like as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't be able to see even if I wanted to, which I don't .

JenniferEccles

No doubt where your priorities lie then - life has little value against greed and money grubbing!

if it was happening frequently and large noisy groups YES why not ? what's wrong with people ?!

Agree with PinkCakes on this. Her list is mine!

I can't believe we are even discussing this proposal from Patel. This is how the decent, nice, neighbourly people of Germany turned into unpaid spies for the authorities and we all know where that ended up. Pre-covid, I would report suspected drug dealing, drink driving, domestic abuse, and covid doesn't change that; I consider that responsible behaviour and couldn't live with my conscience if someone died because I 'didn't want to get involved', but the thought of us turning into a nation of curtain twitchers chills my soul.

Some years ago I had a conversation with a lovely elderly German lady in Berlin. She brought the conversation round to the War (I certainly wouldn’t have done so), and told me, with tears in her eyes, about a family member who was reported by his neighbours for listening to the BBC. Presumably they were ordinary people who felt they were doing their duty and sent him to his death, with repercussions for the whole family. Is this the kind of country we want?

Glad to see it's mostly ,'no' so far and I would join that. Sounds too much like nazi Germany. And as others have said, the police are under great pressure as it is.

I’m surprised that so many people compare the behaviour of facist Jew hating Germans with people who are trying to help stop the transmission of a potentially deadly disease, even if the rules are somewhat illogical. I suspect that anyone who had a loved one that died from Covid would not agree that it was “up to them” if neighbours wanted to have a party and then go shopping etc. Having said this I would not report anyone who had a small family gathering .

It was ridiculous to make a gathering of more than six a crime as it cannot be policed.The government must gain the cooperation of the public by giving honest daily updates.It worked for the majority initially but since the slogans changed and everyone encouraged back to work and “help out to eat out”and go to the pub everything has gone to pot.The government knew in June that schools and workplaces were opening up come September but did not appreciate that this would result in demand for tests increasing.Why?
We all need to play our part and if each of us did that the situation would surely improve.

No, retribution can be a terrible thing. We are going to have to learn to live with Covid (masks etc).

Only if it got really out of control, I think.

The virus, or the partying?