Youngsters gathered in Mornington Crescent 

• ON Saturday evening I saw a crowd of at least 10 children gathered outside Mornington Crescent on their bikes.

Every one of them no doubt going home to families, some perhaps the children of key workers devoted to saving all our lives, others with elderly grandparents.

I was really shocked to see it but from what we hear they were not alone and this was happening across London and across all age groups at the weekend.

The police are wringing their hands unable to manage such mass disregard to public safety.

So what on earth is wrong with us? At the first sign of sunshine it seems a kind of madness really does take hold.

But in this instance it goes far beyond a personal foolishness and could quite literally be fatal.

Why is this lesson not sufficiently understood however frustrating it is to stay indoors – 31,000 people have lost their lives and more will yet?

Front-line staff are living through a daily nightmare and have been heroic, yet every single person disregarding the safe distancing and stay-at-home advice is a potential assassin adding to their burden. And to my mind they ought to be fully aware of it and properly reprimanded.

Boris Johnson’s government chooses to muddy the message and hopefully there will be a full review of their approach when we are through this; but why any of us chooses to wilfully ignore it ourself is an even greater disgrace.

And that by the way includes the young man in Somers Town who having almost walked right into me then shouted ‘who cares’ when asked to keep a two-metre distance.

Every one of you, the young people in the Mornington Crescent crowd included, ought to be made to spend a day with the doctors and nurses and the mortuary staff who will be dealing with the consequences of careless Covid-19 transmission; and given not a fine but immediate community service to instill some kind of respect and humility for those already taken by this virulent and deadly enemy.

R LAST
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