East Germany was trending on Twitter today after a Home Office minister encouraged people to contact police if they see their neighbours flouting the new lockdown laws.
From Monday, any social gathering of more than six people is against the law, with people facing fines of up to £3,200 if they do not abide by the new measure, which applies to both indoor and outdoor settings.
Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said concerned neighbours should ring the non-emergency police phone number to report violations.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are in discussions about what reporting mechanisms there might be, but there is obviously the non-emergency number that people can ring and report issues they wish to.”
But the state of the national psyche was called into question following the comments, which appear to have mobilised an army of Covid warriors.
BBC correspondent Lewis Goodall tweeted:
Comments which several other people seemed to endorse:
While others went with more humorous responses:
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