Tiers of Frustration?

I personally feel that the tier system of Covid-19-related restrictions in England has a number of intrinsic problems. The first problem, is that it is difficult for people to keep track of what they are allowed to do in the different tiers. This is especially true when the tier can change several times over a short time period. A second problem is that it is also very problematic for people running hospitality, 'non-essential' shops, hairdressers and gymns et cetera to plan their stock and activities with any confidence. The third problem is that it allows politicians to argue about whether special allowances should be made for favoured areas (usually their own voters) or punishments (going up a tier) directed to other locations (perhaps controlled by political rivals). The identification of the new viral variant (VUI-202012/01) should focus attention on the weaknesses of the tier system. Placing Kent into tier 3 did not stop the spread of this viral version, although this had been deemed appropriate response for the original virus. What you don't want to happen, is for the variant to spread into areas that are currently in a lower tier, where it might be rapidly transmitted. It has even been suggested that the police will be empowered to stop people, in London and the SE, 'fleeing' their newly-designated tier 4 homes for lower tiers (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/20/police-to-stop-people-fleeing-new-covid-tier-4-areas-hancock-says). I suspect that this will infuriate some liberally-minded people, who will see it as evidence of our becoming a 'police state'. Some scientists have warned that more draconian systems might well have to be brought in across the entire country after Christmas. Surely, it would be better to have restrictions imposed or eased uniformly across region? It would then be much easier to know what you can and cannot do and we would defuse a perception that some people are treated better than others. Resentments build up quickly. The pandemic is a problem for the whole country (some would say the whole world) and we all, irrespective of where we live, have a vested interest in minimising all transmission whilst the vaccination programme is rolled out. We also have, in the UK, a National Health Service. If hospitals, in some areas, are overrun, it ought to be possible to carefully move (avoiding possible transmission) some patients to less challenged areas. I appreciate that there are not many of these but the UK appears to be too prone to 'localism' at the moment. Covid-19 ignores boundaries.