Absolutely insane experience last night at the local (quiet, country) pub. We were enjoying a low-key meal in a largely empty pub, when we saw a police car pull into the carpark, and no less than four individuals, two police officers and two council goons, barged in, announcing they were here "to check the pub was Covid secure".

They proceeded to prowl around the pub glaring at customers, and then marched the ("awake" and always maskless) landlord outside and interrogated him for about half-an-hour.

This totally terrified the (largely teenage) bar staff, who, having never mentioned it on any previous occasion, started getting really flustered and asking the few customers they did have to put on their masks.

Let me reiterate this is a sleepy family pub in the middle of nowhere - you would think FOUR agents of the state had better things to do on a Saturday night (when violent crime in city centres notoriously spikes) than persecute and harass innocent people trying to enjoy a quiet meal, but clearly not. Apparently, these teams of thugs have been systematically making their way around all the quiet country pubs (which are largely very relaxed about "the rules)"), trying to frighten and intimidate them into compliance - and therefore, by extension, driving their customers away.

I really cannot believe we are now actually living like this, in a regime akin to Stalinist Russia. There's no doubt all this is a precursor to closing down the pubs for good (an agenda item they've been working on since the smoking ban), as the police are deliberately targeting Saturday nights, when people are most likely to be drunk and therefore completely ignoring "the rules" - so the police can declare it is impossible for environments where alcohol is served to be made "Covid secure", so they will impose drink limits on pubs or even make them dry altogether - which, obviously, will finish them off permanently.

If you're looking to develop a new skillset, now really might be the time to get into homebrewing (though how long until we have the police at our own front doors, checking our Saturday nights in "are Covid secure"...).