I believe when the licencing hours were extended and you could even open 24 hours a day one of the arguments was that it would stop people drinking too quickly to cram in as much as they could as quick as they could, also to stop people ordering 2 pints just before last orders etc.
I've heard conflicting reports of whether extending the hours stopped trouble late at night or just spread it out a bit
Anyway the build up to last nights announcements was better than the performance, apart from pubs closing earlier there wasn't really any changes, looks to me as though it was more about telling us bigger restrictions are on the way and just softening us up before they happen
The changes are limited, with a warning that if current guidelines aren't heeded (which will inevitably lead to a rise in infections) then there will be tighter control down the line, even to the extent of a full Lockdown again.
If enough people don't listen then this
will happen.
This is as much about herding cats as anything else, dealing with a mainly compliant public but always with a small percentage who will potentially fuck it up for everybody else.
How do you deal with that small percentage of fuckwits? Massage their egos gently and ask them nicely to play ball? Probably not, by their very nature, fuckwits need to be hit with a big metaphorical stick. Sadly, I think that's the truth.
This is not like getting away with fare-dodging on the Underground or taking Class A drugs, where people normally get away with it and others are unaffected. If these fuckers spread it they'll inevitably pass it on to others who've been playing ball.
The perfect example is wearing a mask: by and large, the act of wearing one protects others more than it protects yourself. So when I was on the Underground a few weeks ago, wearing my own mask, when I saw others who weren't I just thought
you're a cunt, piss off out of my sight.