Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #EmergencyState
Most recents (13)
My summary view of Johnson's evidence is the same as it was before he started: his case that the guidance allowed boozy non-socially distanced drinks events with no work being done is absurd and he's either lying that he thought it did or was reckless for asserting it.
I think his best outcome for the 1 and 8 December statements is he was reckless not lying when he made the statements to Parliament, because he consulted his press spads who were at the events rather than people who knew what the rules and guidance actually said.
I think he was hopeless on justifying not correcting the record in months that followed (even today!) because however much he might have foolishly/recklessly believed advisors who were at the parties at the time, he was later advised differently and should have asked more widely.
Just wish I had called one of the chapters “WE DIDN’T BREAK THE F***ING LAW OK”
The text messages are very revealing but so far I think the basic points I make in #EmergencyState are being proved right, rather than being undermined. The dangers of opaque and little scrutinised decision making by a totally dysfunctional group of 5 men 
One thing which interestingly doesn’t appear in Hancock’s book but does appear in the messages is how distrustful and resentful he was towards Sunak. The book lays it on Cummings but not Sunak (from my prospect review prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/matt-…)
I hadn’t realised, as Matt Hancock seems to have just admitted on @GMB, that the image of him was taken on 6th May 2021, when we were still in step 2. This w meant any gathering of more than one person indoors for social purposes was prohibited by law
In his book, he is vague about when the relationship started, I assumed deliberately vague. He may have been blindsided on TV and got the date wrong, I thought it was later, because the image came out later.
I hadn't realised that it had been reported earlier last year that the image was from 6th May 2021 (theguardian.com/politics/2022/…)
The current Prime Minister now has twice as many fixed penalty notices as the previous Prime Minister
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
Some people will think these things are trivial but as I say in #EmergencyState I think the disregard for the law at the current top of British politics suggests they think they are above the law - that they are somehow different, and special
Remember - fixed penalty notices are given for behaviour which can lead to a criminal conviction - the FPN is a way of avoiding prosecution. Not the most serious offences, but still offences
Media alert: I was interviewed yesterday by @dagensnyheter which is one of the leading Swedish daily newspapers. This is a longer critical article in Swedish on the new Government's proposals for visitation zones and anonymous witnesses. Small 🧵
dn.se/sverige/skarp-…
dn.se/sverige/skarp-…
1) A "visitation zone" means that the police can stop people on the street, on their bicycles or in their cars to check their possessions, search their bags and even a body search, if needed, may be done: yourdanishlife.dk/gang-related-v…
2) The proposal is based on the Danish experience where it is claimed that visitationes zones have been used succesfully to cool gang conflicts.
This, if true, is what corruption looks like
And it’s why we have checks and balances, and why we remove them at our peril
thetimes.co.uk/article/0ebefd…
And it’s why we have checks and balances, and why we remove them at our peril
thetimes.co.uk/article/0ebefd…
Yes it’s the people who exposed the VIP Lane who are the problem here 🫠
What happens when the government is out of control? Parliament steps in. What happens when Parliament goes AWOL? The courts step in. What happens if they don’t? #EmergencyState
Sorry, have deleted my tweets about Matt Hancock as I got the dates wrong. Hancock says in his book "nothing happened between us until May [2021], after legal restrictions had ended".
The indoor gatherings restrictions on 2 or more people meeting ended on 14th May 2021 (when Step 3 was introduced). Until then I think that an affair conducted indoors would have been illegal
Note that Hancock is quite vague about the date the affair began - it was exposed on 25th June in The Sun, he says it began in "May".
What is happening China demonstrates the societal perils of possibly the most extreme COVID-19 #EmergencyState worldwide - with no obvious end point and hugely intrusive restrictions, quarantine and surveillance.
As I describe in my book, China's lockdowns were the model for the rest of the world, praised in the first months of the pandemic by e.g. the WHO and even the Pope. Though in fact they tended to be more extreme, reflecting the authoritarian nature of the Chinese govt.
China has used e.g. mass surveillance, enforced quarantine of individuals in camps, extreme enforcement. But the policy has been so successful in suppressing the virus that the govt (by its own logic) is now stuck in a perpetual state of ongoing restrictions.
Just finished #EmergencyState & some thoughts.
I really enjoyed it, & it’s a real feat managing to distill so much in such an accessible, readable & intellectually wide-ranging way. I hope he writes more books along these lines.
I really enjoyed it, & it’s a real feat managing to distill so much in such an accessible, readable & intellectually wide-ranging way. I hope he writes more books along these lines.
My particular interest is in one theme in the book: why were such draconian laws given so little scrutiny, even taking account of the emergency conditions? Hence, partly at least, why much of it was so poor, & misunderstood, including by the police & Government itself.
A key reason is suggested in the conclusion: fundamental constitutional defects, in particular the lack of a codified constitution. But what is the evidence for that?
I haven't accessed the full article yet but Lord Sumption has reviewed #EmergencyState and he thinks it is "interesting and important". I thought he might totally hate it so not a bad start!
telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-…
telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-…
He also thinks it has some "oddities"...
I have now read the review. It's an interesting and fair one, from the perspective that Lord Sumption took throughout the pandemic, which was that lockdowns were unjustified. He doesn't like that I decline, in the book, to say that the major restrictions were unjustified.
It has been a couple of weeks since #EmergencyState was published - in this thread I'm going to share some of the reviews so far. And not just the good ones! 😬☺️🧵
amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09…
amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09…
"It’s a book that needed to be written — and nobody could have done it better", says @JoshuaRozenberg rozenberg.substack.com/p/emergency-st…
"well written and accessible [to] coherently draw together the ratcheting of fiat law into everything from the public joy of a walk in the country to the private joy of the bedroom.This is no dry legal telling of the tale" @iofiv on @davidallengreen's blog
davidallengreen.com/2022/10/guest-…
davidallengreen.com/2022/10/guest-…
If you are looking for a reason to buy #EmergencyState, Quentin Letts didn't like it! thetimes.co.uk/article/emerge…
"It’s a book that needed to be written — and nobody could have done it better." @JoshuaRozenberg
rozenberg.substack.com/p/emergency-st…
rozenberg.substack.com/p/emergency-st…
I am so pleased, excited, nervous and generally grateful that TODAY IS PUBLICATION DAY! Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this day.
#EmergencyState is in all good bookshops, online, audio book (read by me). All info here: amzn.to/3LknvQz
#EmergencyState is in all good bookshops, online, audio book (read by me). All info here: amzn.to/3LknvQz
You can download a free chapter of the audiobook via @bhumanpodcast here #EmergencyState podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/bet…
I will be conversation with the brilliant @PippaCrerar at 6:30pm to celebrate the launch - if you want a link email events@doughtystreet.co.uk
