Corona Daily 289: The Gym Rebellion

Outside of UK, the older generation associates Liverpool with Beatles, and the younger with football.  The English people, particularly those living in the Liverpool region, know its never-give-up fighting spirit.

Trying to balance the contradictory goals of containing the virus, and protecting the jobs (eat out to help out), England has attracted the second wave. Alarmed, Boris Johnson issued more rules and restrictions on 12 October. Depending on the level of infection, England is now divided into three tiers – medium alert level, high alert level and very high alert level.

Liverpool was the first place to be put in the most severe tier- the very high alert level. That means people in different houses can no longer meet. Pubs should close unless they serve meals. Creative English people have found a bypass by ordering a slice of pizza or a small dessert, keeping it on the table, and keeping on drinking. There is no standard definition of meals.

The other diktat from Westminster was to close all the gyms in Liverpool.  Unlike USA or India, UK charges fines for breaking rules. Now, not wearing face masks will attract £200 the first time. Fines keep doubling for subsequent offences. If you exclude Boris Johnson, British people believe in the rule of law.

The three-tier system is clearly harsher for the North of England. (Johnson and his cabinet lives in the South). With Brexit, Johnson has managed to break UK away from Europe. Through extreme populism resulting into no deal, he will facilitate the loss of Northern Ireland and Scotland in the next few years. His divisive mind seems to have found North-South of England as the new target.

***** 

Liverpool was ordered to shut down all its gyms. But Lancashire, a few miles away, also in the very high alert tier, was allowed to keep them open. All cities in a tier were equal, but Lancashire was more equal than Liverpool.

The gyms in Liverpool decided not to close. On 14 October, an unnamed member of the public (they exist in every place) called the police and complained about a gym being open, illegally. At 08.35 am, eight police officers carrying firearms entered the Body Tech Fitness Gym. Being English, they were civil. They asked the owner to close the gym immediately, or they would charge a £1000 fine.

A lot of members were training, some running on treadmills. The owner refused to stop their exercise. The police issued a £1000 fine. They would return after three hours, and fine £2000 if the gym was still open. £4000 six hours later.

***** 

An online petition was signed by 400,000 people. (Probably the number of gymgoers in the region). A GoFundMe page was started to help gyms pay the fine. It collected £50000 in one day. Liverpool’s mayor Joe Anderson protested against the closure of gyms. To complicate his life further, on 16 October, the mayor’s brother died of covid-19.

PureGym, UK’s biggest gym chain with seven gyms in Liverpool, decided to take legal action against the government.

A letter was sent directly to Boris Johnson, asking him politely to produce scientific evidence as to why gyms in Liverpool should be shut. In fact, they were essential to keep people fit, fight obesity and improve mental health. Gyms, anyway, were in a bad financial state, having closed for four months during the national lockdown.

******

Boris Johnson and his gang discussed the letter, scratched their heads to find a rationale to shut gyms only in Liverpool, and finally gave in.

From today, all Liverpool gyms will be open legally. The fine charged will be reversed, and the money raised donated to a charity. The rebellion succeeded.

Ravi