England's Lockdown Regulations: A Compressed History

An extraordinary journey

The turbulent trajectory of the UK's laws to combat the spread of Covid-19 over the last two years is such that it can be hard to recall exactly what has been prohibited and when. The following may serve as a reminder.

The original Regulations

The original use of Regulations to restrict movements and gatherings by England's general population came into force on 26 March 2020¹.

Restriction on movement

In broad terms, the principal restriction (in Regulation 6) said starkly that ‘no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse'.

A non-exhaustive list of reasonable excuses was provided, which included:

1. to obtain basic necessities;