Well-known human rights barrister Adam Wagner, based at Doughty Street Chambers, recently published Emergency State: How we lost our freedoms in the pandemic and why it matters (Bodley Head, 2022). By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

At one point he quotes Orwell, writing that whether you lose or keep your freedom depends on “the general temper in the country”.How critical of a unwelcome measure should we be when asking whether it was proportionate to some threat, and therefore justified? Most concerning is that coronavirus law-making became so incredibly difficult to understand that people were simply unaware and had no way to confirm that they were actually adhering to the law.

At least, they do unless someone manages to somehow bring a legal challenge or get some sympathetic press coverage. 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.Adam Wagner's book is a terrifying account of how those monumental laws were made, changed, and influenced; leaving the reader worried about what might have been, how far the government was empowered to go by legislation never intended for this purpose, and how we'd respond if it were to happen all over again. Adam charted the covid laws as they developed so it is no great surprise that he is able to speak with some authority on this subject.