Emergency State: How We Lost Our Freedoms in the Pandemic and Why it Matters

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Meanwhile, behind the doors of Downing Street officials and even the Prime Minister broke the very laws they had created.

Good overview of the lockdown years (though as Wagner says, after two "freedom" days, who is to tell if it's really all over? To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The book is full of tolerance, recognising that imperfections and compromises are inevitable and proportionate, but it is also critical of reckless abuses.The emergency was supposed to be short but lasted for 763 days, allowing ministers to bring in, by decree over 100 new laws restricting freedoms more than any in history - laws that were almost never debated, changed at a whim and increasingly confused the public.

As a lawyer, Adam is primarily concerned about the law-making process, the lack of parliamentary scrutiny, the use of summary justice and the lack of clarity in the law at that time. Wagner discusses the fact that COVID amounted to a ban on sexual relations for those who did not cohabit, [1] : 85–89 arguing that it was ironic that Matt Hancock who approved most covid measures resigned due to having an extramarital affair with an aide in the workplace. It must have enlivened the tedium of lockdown to see a young man getting off his bike in a North London park and asking two patrolling Metropolitan Police officers what exactly they were up to.We yearn for a strong leader, we feel a sense of collective action and we disapprove of those who swim against the tide. Either way, you will come away from this book horrified at the government's emergency powers and believing in reform for future emergencies. If anyone offered evidence contrary to the sage committee they were ridiculed and labelled a conspiracy theorist. Wagner believes human rights should be “at the heart of government decision-making during a state of emergency”, which is what you’d expect from a human rights lawyer.

He appeared regularly on TV, radio and social media, interpreting the bewildering Covid-19 laws, explaining to Piers Morgan whether it was legal to sit on a park bench, and helping the public understand when politicians have broken Covid-19 laws. Former UK Supreme Court Judge, Jonathan Sumption, reviewing the book in The Daily Telegraph, said that book is the 'fullest account' of how the government used legal coercion to restrict basic human freedoms. This book also echos that, but also exposes the lack of scrutiny and accountability of those in power, the sidelining of Parliament and how the police used made up laws to justify oppression. He’s right I think the Civil Contingencies Act should have been used rather than public health legislation. The corruption of power in government - seen at the heart of Johnson's period as PM - needs to be seriously exposed.I then prepared for the birth of a baby and was not permitted to attend most of the antenatal scans due to social distancing rules. Finally, it was the World Health Organization itself, which stated in October 2020 'Stop using lockdown as your primary control method… lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle - that is making poor people an awful lot poorer. Wagner notes that most modern states have legislation to allow emergency powers where constitutional protections for fundamental rights can be suspended. He discusses the issuing of fixed penalty notices, FPNs, during COVID-19, [1] : 68 and the effects of Dominic Cummings' violation of lockdown guidance. Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period.