Further points of concern about the Government’ and/or Establishment’s agenda over the Coronavirus “emergency”

Further points of concern about the Government’ and/or Establishment’s agenda over the Coronavirus “emergency”

Following on from my previous but one article, in which I pointed out the time-line of developments over Government policy.  This timeline seems to contradict the Government’s narrative of how the situation developed, with them relying upon the advice of “Experts”.  In fact the expert advice had already changed before the Government’s more extreme measures were introduced. 

The general Media narrative appears to be along the lines of:- Lockdown was forced upon the Government because of the seriousness of the epidemic and the Expert Advice and also by the behaviour of other Governments. 

Also I have seen it suggested that Boris Johnson’s panic measures were partly introduced by the Scottish and Welsh Governments making it clear that they were going to go with a full Lockdown policy.  Therefore, if the British Government didn’t do so, England would be the only part that was left and that would have undermined the concept of the Union of the United Kingdom. 

None of these, to my mind, really explains why we wound up with regulations that could have been implemented much earlier under the long existing legislation.  Instead we have a Coronavirus Act, giving the Government extremely sweeping powers. 

Also the Government has used the opportunity to sneak through lots of Statutory Instruments without any scrutiny or challenge.

The Solicitors in-house journal, the Law Society Gazette, has carried articles pointing out that in fact all the regulations that the Government has wanted to produce could have been brought out, under the Civil Contingencies Act. 

The crucial difference between the Civil Contingencies Act and what has been enacted in the Coronavirus Act, is that the Civil Contingencies Act meant that there would be ongoing Parliamentary scrutiny of what Ministers were up to!

The Coronavirus Act on the other hand leaves Parliament as largely powerless. 

The only remaining significant power is that the whole Coronavirus Act/Emergency Powers/Police State/, continues unchecked except for the opportunity of a Resolution of the House of Commons every six months!

In the meanwhile the Government can legislate on more or less any topic, in whatever way it chooses, without any practical possibility of Ministers’ actions or decisions actually being scrutinised and without any of the Statutory Instruments which have been produced ever being repealed! 

In the circumstances we have basically had what amounts to a Coup.  The Government have made themselves far more powerful and far more unaccountable than ever previously envisaged by the English Constitution!