The struggle against lockdowns seems to be lost. But we must never give up on our civil liberties
by Emily Carver, Conservative Home:
At the start of the pandemic, the Coronavirus Act passed through Parliament with little scrutiny. In less than a week, it had received royal assent, having passed through the House of Commons without a vote and the Lords without amendment. Concerns were raised at the time that this must not lead to the permanent diminishment of our freedoms – but the general consensus was that the government needed to be able to act fast to protect lives.
Now, ten months on, and faced with a new, more transmissible variant of the virus, a National Health Service under acute pressure, and the promise of vaccination-induced herd immunity, civil liberties have been placed firmly on the back burner (even by many libertarians) – and a renewed moralistic fervour is on full display from proponents of tighter restrictions, with many reasonable sceptics of lockdown branded “Covid-deniers”.
Many believe the debate is closed as to whether lockdown is a proportionate response – perhaps the remaining sceptics need to know when the battle is lost. But regardless of your position on this third lockdown, we would be foolish to close our eyes to the dangerous reality: the Government continues to exercise unprecedented powers, with negligible parliamentary scrutiny, and the only hope we can cling onto is the vague possibility this will all be over by the spring.
Read also: When in doubt, blame the lockdown sceptics by Will Jones, The Conservative Woman
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