I know there are people on this forum whose understanding of law is better then mine, but on the face of it this is an interesting situation.
This is the time of year for planting. Our local supernarkets and Farm Shop, all of which usually sell seeds and seedlings at this time of year, are still allowed to open. Presumably Plants Galore also sell the same products. Where is the logic in one being able to buy a packet of seeds or a tomato plant seeding in Morrison's when you can't buy them at a Garden Centre?
We are told that we can buy anything in a shop that is still allowed to open, whether or not it is "essential." Furthermore, nobody has ever defined what "essential" is and rightly so, because each person's essential purchases may vary depemding on their own circumstances. As was pointed out recently, a bat and ball set might be seen as "essential" if it is the only way to entertain the kids/ keep 'em quiet.
We should also not lose sight of what the regulations are for in the first place. They are to avoid the spread of this virus, not to punish the population.
Having done no further research on this particular case, it strikes me that a pig-headed local authority might have come across a pig-headed trader and neither of them want to be seen to back down (Substitute "principled" for "pig-headed" if you prefer because the use of the term was rather subjective!)
For the avoidance of doubt I have not concluded who is right or who is wrong in my opinion in this case, I am simply trying to look at the wider issue (added in case someone posts the term "snowflake" again...
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Spoken like a true lawyer! There are many debatable and arguable points of interpretation in a short statutory instrument, and the shop selling things other than their primary line is just one of many. It seems to be accepted that if it sells something on the list of useful necessities, it can sell pretty much everything else on its shelves. One store chain selling general household goods in large quantity has been accused by some of having installed freezers to sell frozen food in order to get around the rules. The store denies this and says the idea was drawn up before the pandemic. So would it be acceptable for someone to buy a new barbecue and sunloungers if the shop also sold pizza and ice cream? Or would it have to be tinned beans? Does the shop have to have a local authority food hygiene certificate as a condition of being able to sell a lawn mower? Questions like this have earned fortunes for lawyers if they won the argument, and lost fortunes for their clients if they didn't.
The coronavirus emergency legislation is working because not many people seem to want to breach it. Seeing reports of young healthy people dying is having more effect than the threat of a fine.
