| SIGNAL: Understandable concerns about the selective policing of lockdown is highlighted here by Guardian columnist John Harris |
| NOISE: Deeper concerns about the dramatic erosion of civil liberties not as clearly outlined |
All the ‘tough’ talk ignores who is always targeted in such crackdowns, and those who still need help
The lockdown sceptics, it seems, are in abeyance. Opportunistic media voices who made a habit of denying the necessity of restrictions and the severity of the pandemic are still here, but noticeably quieter. Only 16 MPs, split between the Tories and the Democratic Unionist party, voted against the government’s latest measures. Bursts of dissent about restrictions and the truth of the virus itself will doubtless continue, as proved by the awful spectacle of those people outside London hospitals, seemingly dragged from the subterranean depths of social media into the everyday world, chanting “Covid is a hoax!” But with the crisis entering this new, frightening stage, the mood has inevitably changed.
At the same time, many things that ought to jangle our nerves are as clear now as they were in 2020. Read the full article on the Guardian website
Liberty published analysis of the thousands of fixed penalty notices that had been issued to people in England and Wales under Covid legislation. It showed that black and minority-ethnic people were 54% more likely to have been fined than those classified as white.
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