Sex in your home with a person from another household ILLEGAL from today – but police can’t burst in and stop you
SEX in your own home with a person from another household will be illegal from today due to new coronavirus rules, but the police won't be able to barge in.
The Government has rolled out new lockdown guidelines which include the clause that completely bans two people from separate households gathering in a private place.
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New lockdown rules will be introduced in the latest amendment to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 bill which will be presented to parliament today.
It details the measures which have eased, such as being able to meet up in groups of six for a BBQ and conditions for elite athletes to return to sport.
Buried in is a new regulation which explicitly bans meeting up with anyone from outside your household in your own home.
It reads: "No person may participate in a gathering which takes place in a public or private place indoors, and consists of two or more persons.
"There is a gathering when two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other."
Brought in to help support the new rules about friends and family having to meet up outside, the clause puts a categorical legal end to lockdown sex with others from outside your home.
Previous regulations did not include the wording about private places as travel restrictions categorically urged people to stay in their homes except for food shopping and exercise.
People caught travelling without a reasonable excuse could be prosecuted, but the wording did not include what happened when you were in another home.
Now both people will technically be able to be prosecuted under the coronavirus regulations as both have committed an offence by having a two person gathering from separate households - in a private place.
Public sex is already illegal for any couples hopeful of a workaround to see their lover.
Bemused Brits have been flooding social media with memes as lockdown changes became law.
Only people with a "reasonable excuse" are allowed to gather in a private place.
People looking for a romp are not included in the guidelines, which covers elite athletes, people attending funerals, vulnerable people and workers.
It also allows people to gather in a private place for childcare, for separated parents to see their children, to provide emergency assistance and to allow someone to avoid harm.
The regulations define a gathering as when "two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other".
So sadly, sex in your home with a lover you don't live with will for now be illegal in Britain.
However, this afternoon No10 said it was unlikely that Brits will be targeted for their crimes.
Downing Street confirmed that the police do not have the powers to storm into anyone's home - unless they suspect "serious criminal activity" is taking place.
A spokesperson said this lunchtime: "The police will do as they have done since the beginning of the health regulations being in place. They will be exercising their common sense and engaging with the public and only issuing fixed penalty notices when they believe it’s a last resort."
Police forces will be able to use their discretion.
But they won't be able to barge into peoples homes.
"You’re wrong there in the sense that police don’t have powers to enter people’s homes under the regulations," they spokesperson said.
"What they can do is enter homes where they suspect serious criminal activity is taking place under separate and existing laws."
It comes as the country is beginning to ease out of the lockdown which has dominated daily life since March.
Baby steps are being taken as some schools return today after Britain hit its lowest daily death toll since the start of lockdown.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has however warned that the lockdown will be tightened again if coronavirus looks set to return.
He said the government will “target [measures] very carefully” to stop an increase in cases as Downing Street bids to get the UK moving again.
His warning came as Brits planned BBQs and garden parties to celebrate the new easing of measures.
Meanwhile, crowds flocked to beaches over the weekend amid concerns that the lockdown is beginning to totally unravel despite the threat from Covid-19.
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Mr Raab defended the Government’s decision to ease restrictions, insisting “we can’t stay in lockdown forever”.