'I'm Judging Myself for Leaving'—Speaking to the People Who Fled Tier 4 London

On Saturday afternoon, Boris Johnson announced that Christmas is effectively cancelled for millions in London and the South East.

Under the new “Tier 4” restrictions imposed on the region, no one is allowed to meet indoors with anyone who’s not part of their household or support bubble, including on Christmas Day itself. The fact these rules came into effect just eight hours after they were announced led to many trying to leave the capital on Saturday night, with footage going viral of enormous crowds at London’s train stations.

In light of the news, plenty made the call to cancel their plans to visit family and instead remain in London. Others decided to get out as fast as they could.

We spoke to some people who managed to get out of (or into) London over the weekend, to find out what the journey was like, why they decided to take it and whether they have any regrets.

I booked the last train of the day, as I figured it would be the best bet for a socially distanced journey, and I was right, because I was the only one on my carriage for the whole journey.

I think the government’s handling of the whole pandemic has been shambolic, but the way they announced these Christmas changes was especially callous. If I was told in September, or even a few weeks ago, that I'd have to stay put at Christmas, I would have come to terms with it. But to give people a matter of hours to decide whether they should leave? They've always been cruel in their messaging, but this was such a cutting blow.

I do feel guilty for what I've done, but now I'm with my small family with the Christmas period ahead of us, I feel like I've made the right choice.

My train was not busy, and I wasn’t stopped or asked any questions. But it did feel absurd travelling to the COVID epicentre the morning after the announcements, at the same time as everyone else was trying to escape. I work primarily in hospitality, and because of the restrictions in Scotland my work has decided to not reopen for at least the next couple of months, which meant I was able to leave. Christmas in itself is not important for me, as I’m Jewish and have already celebrated every major festival this year alone. But my mum lives alone and I wanted to come down to keep her company and to reduce her risk by doing her food shops.

The government’s handling of the situation has been awful, and so predictable. Christmas should have always been cancelled, which the Tories knew, but we stayed open just long enough for everyone to do their Christmas shopping. [The Tories] did what they always do, which is prioritise the economy over human lives.

The disabled community have been treated awfully this entire time – those that have been relying on family members or friends caring for them over the Christmas period now have no one, with no time to rearrange. It is really heartless.

My journey was stressful, in the sense I was worried about what would happen, but in reality it wasn’t that bad. It was very quiet. By my stop in the North East, there were only three people in my carriage, and I didn’t see any police.

I think it’s a shit-show from the government. Some of my friends who have minimum wage service jobs thought they’d be working right up until Christmas and then be able to spend time with their families. They found out the announcement while they were at work and couldn’t leave, so they are now stuck in London, alone, in empty houses, with no money coming in.

I’m judging myself for leaving, to be honest, and I would allow other people to think it was reckless or selfish. However, I think it's unfair judge others if your own situation is OK. I live in a house with strangers who had mostly left already, and I’m not comfortable there.

Christmas is the most important time for our family, and considering how tough of a year it’s been for us, with deaths, job losses – both mine and my parents' – and my own recent illness with COVID, I mostly wanted to come home to reassure my mum.

My dad came up from Southampton on Saturday evening to collect me, my flatmate and my brother. We drove through central London and it was very quiet – there were no police or anything.

The sheer lack of humanity shown by some on the internet has been astounding. I don’t really buy the “blame the government but also blame the individuals” line. Of course, we should do everything we can and be as careful as our circumstances allow, but we as individuals have never signed up to factor the weight of societal impact into every decision we make, especially when the government messaging has been so inconsistent.

To be honest, I don’t feel guilty about it. I know the risk of me bringing COVID to my parents was incredibly low, as I’ve been so careful. We lost my grandma, who I was very close to, during the first lockdown, and my brother and I couldn’t attend her funeral. I have seen my parents since then, but we haven’t been together as a family with my brother. However, I don’t judge people who have travelled home with “less” reason to than me. Being stuck in your flat for almost a year is incredibly mentally draining, and I don’t blame people for simply needing to escape.

I got a train late on Saturday night, a few hours before Tier 4 kicked in. I’d seen on Twitter that some stations were packed with people, but had also seen people tweeting that Marylebone was quiet, and thankfully they were right.

If I had stayed, I would’ve been alone in my flat for a minimum of two weeks. I’ve dealt with mental health problems for years now, and have struggled with them in 2020. I decided that spending over a fortnight isolated was not a situation I wanted to put myself in. I genuinely don’t know how I would have handled it.

I got the train on Saturday at around 7PM, a few hours after the announcement. I managed to miss the huge rush of people that were later caught on camera at one of the London stations. All the way from my house to Leeds station, I barely came across anyone. I did see policemen on the way, but as it was still technically allowed – but deeply frowned upon – they didn't do anything.

It became more stressful because I publicised my plans online and people were being really judgmental. But ultimately, I couldn't understand how keeping such a low profile for two weeks, testing negatively and doing everything I could to avoid catching it on the way was somehow worse than what the government has done in terms of the last minute announcement.

Of course I feel guilty, but ultimately I think the government does not give a single fuck, and it hasn't all year. After sacrificing so many freedoms in the past nine months, this was the small thing I was going to do for myself and my mental health. The thought of spending Christmas alone when I haven't been able to see my family for a year – they live abroad, and all of my housemates had scattered by that point – was far too depressing.

It’s hard to listen to a government that enforced four different rules over four weeks in London and the South East. I understand that people are angry, but the reason they're targeting individuals who travelled is probably because they're feeling so helpless and understand that they can't hold the government to account.

Some names have been changed.