Emergency State: How We Lost Our Freedoms in the Pandemic and Why it Matters
By (Author) Adam Wagner
Vintage Publishing
The Bodley Head Ltd
6th November 2022
13th October 2022
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Constitutional law and human rights
Corruption in politics, government and society
Law and society, sociology of law
Parliamentary and legislative practice
Social impact of disasters / accidents (natural or man-made)
Human rights, civil rights
941.0862
Paperback
240
Width 135mm, Height 216mm, Spine 18mm
240g
Emergency State is both a record and a warning - a ringside account of a turbulent period when our laws were remade more radically than ever before, and a wake-up call to why we must value our rights and liberties. On 26 March 2020, a new law appeared. In 11 pages, it locked down 60 million people, restricting us to our homes, banning gatherings, closing shops, gyms, places of worship. It restricted our rights more than any other law in history. You might have expected such a law to be fiercely debated in Parliament. But it wasn't debated at all. Using an emergency procedure, it came into force the moment it was signed. Amazingly, over 100 other new laws were brought in by ministerial declaration over the next 440 days, almost never debated, and some - we would find out - stained with corruption. Emergency laws have existed for thousands of years. But giving leaders or governments unbridled power has never ended well. It's not the point that these laws and the lockdowns appeared to work- they turbo-charged a longstanding erosion of our rights. Now the genie is out of the bottle and we must face up to how they were made or risk an even more audacious power grab next time. Emergency State tells the story of how this bonfire of liberties happened. Many of us would prefer to forget this period in our history. Instead, we need to understand what happened and why. And stop it happening again.
Superb... authoritative, thoughtful and terrifying in equal measure * The Secret Barrister *
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 *
A wake-up call for citizens to be more alert to measures ... that seek to undermine democracy * The Times, *Best Law Books of 2022* *
A vital contribution to a debate we need to have * Financial Times *
Piercing and profoundly troubling, this is a journey to the heart of the pandemic and the great British struggle to balance the well-being of the individual and the group. A tale of rights and misdemeanours, told with a passion of power and forensic precision * Philippe Sands, author of East West Street *
Absolutely invaluable. Adam Wagner has been an indispensable guide and this is a gripping, important, definitive book * Dr Xand van Tulleken *
Emergency State demonstrates why Adam Wagner rapidly became the indispensable authority on the unprecedented restrictions on liberty that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic. Clear-eyed, forensic and compelling, it sets out what happened - and the urgent lessons we need to learn * Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape Artist *
At times, Emergency State reads like a dystopian novel with a dramatic plot twist - those who wrote these draconian laws failed to follow them. The law expert who kept the receipts, Adam Wagner has written the definitive account of a unique moment in legal history * Susanna Reid *
Astonishing. Detailed, dispassionate and definitive. An urgent warning and a work of major importance * James O'Brien *
Fascinating. An invaluable service to historians of the pandemic, and a passionate and compelling argument for the rule of law * Baron Danny Finkelstein *
Adam Wagner is one of the UK's leading human rights barristers and the country's pre-eminent expert on COVID-19 laws. He was described in the House of Lords as 'the only person in the country who can make sense of this variety of regulations'.
He appears regularly on TV and radio, and during the pandemic was often called upon to interpret the bewildering COVID-19 laws, explaining to Piers Morgan whether it was legal to sit on a park bench and helping the public understand when politicians broke the law.
Adam has acted in some of the key human rights cases of recent years, including for #ReclaimTheseStreets in their successful case against the Metropolitan Police relating to the vigil following the murder of Sarah Everard. He was Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the human rights implications of COVID-19 and is a Visiting Professor of Law at Goldsmiths, University of London. He practises from Doughty Street Chambers.