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Emergency State
- How We Lost Our Freedoms in the Pandemic and Why It Matters
- Narrated by: Adam Wagner
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
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Emergency State
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
On 26 March 2020, a new law appeared. In 11 pages, it locked down tens of millions of people, confined us to our homes, banned socialising, closed shops, gyms, pubs, places of worship. It restricted our freedoms more than any other law in history, justified by the rapid spread of a deadly new virus.
You might have expected such a law to be fiercely debated in Parliament. But it wasn't debated at all. A state of emergency was declared, meaning the law came into force the moment it was signed. The state of emergency lasted for 764 days, whilst ministers brought in over 100 new restrictions, almost never debated, increasingly confusing the public, and some—we would find out—stained with corruption. Meanwhile, behind the doors of Downing Street officials and even the Prime Minister broke the very laws they had created.
This book will tell the startling story of the state of emergency which became an emergency state, how extreme measures caused constitutional chaos, and why it is only by understanding these unprecedented events that we can learn lessons for the future.
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Critic reviews
"Superb...authoritative, thoughtful and terrifying in equal measure." (The Secret Barrister)
"Astonishing. Detailed, dispassionate and definitive. An urgent warning and work of major importance." (James O'Brien)
"A riveting account of how our democracy was put under threat during the Pandemic and why we must never let the Emergency State—all-powerful but ignorant and corrupt—take over again." (Lady Hale, former President of the UK Supreme Court)
What listeners say about Emergency State
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- TLB
- 05-11-22
Important for anyone who values democracy
Excellent, informative and well read. The core principles are so important for all citizens regardless of political leanings. Our democracy and human rights must be cherished and defended because neither are guaranteed. Some emergency powers will mean a temporary loss of rights for the greater good, but how those decisions are taken must be debated and scrutinised.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- r witherington
- 09-11-22
Flawed but exhaustive
It is an exhaustive document written from the legal coalface, and great effort is made to make the legal arguments easy to grasp and well explained. It is though flawed as it gives the government at the time way to much leeway, judging them as being incompetent as opposed to the corrupt cabal that it was. Little argument is provided from the point of those against Covid restrictions and it steers judiciously away from politics much of the time when - as is now clear their entire actions were political.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Lucy
- 06-02-23
A compelling and enlightening read!
Read it! If you’re interested in our rights, freedoms and living in a democracy then read it! If you don’t, PLEASE read it…to appreciate how easily our rights and freedoms can be quietly whipped away.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- N Noades-Nugee
- 12-12-22
fascinating perspective of the pandemic
A very interesting - and concerning - perspective of the UK Government's response to the pandemic from a legal point of view.
Written it seems in the heat of the moment, it is considerably more illuminating on legal transgressions, and the consequences for democracy, rule of law, social cohesion etc than it is on clinical outcomes.
Wagner takes it as a given and does not challenge the orthodox view that lockdowns are necessary in the absence of a vaccine, and argues persuasively that Parliament should have had oversight, the Police were confused, the law was unclear and did not align often with official guidance.
But he gives little time or thought to alternatives, as proposed for example by the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration. With hindsight, we can now see that outcomes are comparable between States that chose very differing strategies, and it would have been good to have had the distance to include this more fundamental question in his analysis.
As a lawyer, though, he's understandably stuck to his knitting, and his views are immensely valuable as such, so we should thank him for that. It's a truly shocking story in and of itself, and his illumination of it is a necessary first step in inoculating us against a repeat performance.
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- Jules
- 25-09-23
Scary conclusion
Thorough evaluation of legal positions taken in England during COVID times. Having relied on Adam's explanations during that period I was happy to get and listen to this summary. The final conclusion on lessons learnt (or not learnt) is worrying though. Thank you Adam.
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