A screenshot of a post being shared on Facebook makes a number of claims, including that the Prime Minister of Australia and state premiers across the country are about to be arrested.
The post says that New South Wales police have been “served” documents, including arrest warrants, and that the “deadline for these arrests are to occur on the 31st of January [sic]”.
New South Wales police told Full Fact on 3 February: “Last week, NSW Police Force received documentation from a protest group.
“No further police action is expected.”
The ‘deadline’ date in the Facebook post has been and gone, and we have not been able to find any reports of such arrests having been made.
The post goes on to say: “This has been taken place [sic] in UK and Ireland and all their restrictions and mandates have been dropped”.
It’s unclear what this means. The Metropolitan Police has confirmed to Full Fact that no criminal investigation into the Covid-19 vaccination programme is taking place and there’s no indication a crime has been committed, despite repeated claims to the contrary online.
The Metropolitan Police is investigating alleged Covid-rule breaking at several gatherings held at Number 10 during the pandemic, but no arrests have been made. If any action is taken, it would likely be in the form of a fine.
As for restrictions and mandates, Plan B restrictions were removed in England on 27 January, meaning, amongst other things, that face coverings are no longer mandatory in indoor venues.
Since the Facebook post was shared on 26 January, health minister Sajid Javid announced on 31 January that there would be a consultation on ending the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in England and, subject to the response, the government would revoke the regulations for it. Other rules, like having to self-isolate in certain scenarios, still apply in the UK.
Image by Kgbo, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
