The Brexit Party leader accused officers of being over-zealous in their tackling of social gatherings during the month-long lockdown. Mr Farage condemned officers for carrying out checks on shoppers for “non-essential” items. Writing in The Telegraph, he said if police refuse to give up their new powers once the COVID-19 epidemic has passed he would make it his business to campaign for a return to normality.

He said: “Yes, I do want to fight this horrible disease.

“Indeed, I was one of the first people to condemn publicly the Government’s herd immunity strategy.

“But I do not want to live under a house detention regime or for this country to be remoulded into a police state.”

The former MEP said he expects the Government to ease the public back into daily life by lifting the lockdown slowly.

The restrictions on public gatherings and non-essential travel are set to be extended in the coming days for a further three weeks.

But Mr Farage warned Britons should not presume police forces across the country would be willing to ease off when it comes to their clampdown.

He predicts police will argue “that many of their powers must be retained in case another pandemic strikes”.

This would no doubt cause uproar among the population and increased fears of a nanny state.

Boris Johnson gradually rolled out the lockdown last month, at first advising people to avoid pubs, restaurants and cinemas before closing facilities days later.

Police have been patrolling parks and beaches where they move people on if they are found to be sitting or remaining idle.

The approach has been met with widespread criticism from Britons on social media.

DON’T MISS
Martin Lewis: How FCO update will impact holidays [INSIGHT]
Spain coronavirus: FCO updates travel warning for Britons [EXPLAINED]
Essential shopping list: Full list of essential supermarket items [ANALYSIS]

But others have praised officers for implementing the Government’s advice.

One person wrote on Twitter: “The lockdown is fine in the UK, the Government established it with common sense and flexibility.

“The only problem has been jobsworth police who have squished the flexibility and joy out of the lockdown.”

Another accused the public of “mocking” police who were simply trying to do their job.

Others accused Britons of behaving stupidly by sunbathing in public as hundreds of people die each day from coronavirus.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said some of the decisions Britain made on how to tackle the spread of novel coronavirus were too slow and the government did not learn enough from other countries.

Britain initially refrained from imposing the same stringent controls as other European countries to counter the outbreak.

Speaking on BBC Radio on Wednesday, he called for the government to publish its exit strategy from the lockdown imposed on March 23.

“I think that some of the decisions made in the last few weeks were too slow and didn’t learn quickly enough from other countries, let’s not repeat that,” he said.

Source: Read Full Article