Police will have new Covid rules thrown back in their faces by the angry public, one of Britain’s most senior retired policemen warned tonight.
Ex-Greater Manchester chief constable Sir Peter Fahy said the Downing Street parties scandal would make new regulations almost impossible to enforce.
The ex-lawman branded the PM’s new Plan B measures as confusing and said events in Downing Street had left frontline officers wary.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “For the police to be able to enforce legislation, the public need to feel it’s legitimate and they need to feel that those that make the legislation are also complying with it.
“Unfortunately we’ve got to the stage where that’s not the case.
“The vast majority of people will comply because it’s in their self-interest – because they don’t want to get Covid – but they won’t do it because they respect the law.
“Operational officers out on the streets will have it thrown back in their faces, ‘The Prime Minister had a party, why can’t we?’”
Sir Peter, who was head of GMP for seven years until 2015, added: “The public get confused about what they should do and it created a field day for lawyers to pick it apart if someone’s committed an offence.
“It’s been a minefield for the police and I think they are going to be extremely wary of this situation.”
