Lockdown sceprics:The Daily Sceptic;CommentsBoris Johnson and Rishi Sunak Will Spend “Freedom Day” in Self-Isolation After Speedy U-Turn Due to Backlash Over Quarantine Exemption-et varia

Non classé 36 Minutes

The Daily Sceptic

By Toby Young

The name of this website is about to change from Lockdown Sceptics to the Daily Sceptic. I intended this change to coincide with the bonfire of the coronavirus restrictions – the long-awaited terminus – but ‘Freedom Day’ has turned out to be a damp squib. Not only have many of the restrictions remained in place, but it’s been made clear by Chris Whitty and others that any freedoms we’ve been granted today will be snatched away as soon as the NHS comes under pressure again.

I always imagined I’d retire Lockdown Sceptics one day – turn it into an archive that would serve as a record of a dark period in our history – but after almost 16 months of continuous activity, it has developed in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I don’t just mean it averages 1.5 million page views a month and has almost 15,000 email subscribers, as well as a staff of seven. It has also attracted a community of regular contributors and commentators, either above the line, below the line, or in the forums, as well as a team of tireless moderators. Together, we’ve created a kind of intellectual home for tens of thousands of people, and I get regular emails from people all over the world telling me that if it wasn’t for Lockdown Sceptics they would have gone mad.

So instead of shutting down the site, I’ve decided to turn it into the Daily Sceptic. All of the original content we published will still be there, organised under the headings you can see on the right-hand vertical, and the focus will be on the lockdowns and associated restrictions for the time being. But the subject matter will be a bit broader. I wanted to create something more permanent, something that wasn’t contingent on lockdowns continuing forever, but which was imbued with the same irreverent, antic spirit as the original site, and the same rigorous, analytical approach.

So the Daily Sceptic will include sceptical articles by disaffected journalists and academics – including citizen journalists and independent scholars – about a range of public policies that are supposedly based on science or data or evidence, where ‘the Science’ is being invoked as a source of unassailable authority, but which often appear to be rooted in a covert political agenda. The idea is to challenge the new powerful class of government scientists and public health officials – as well as their colleagues in universities, grant-giving trusts, large international charities, Silicon Valley and the pharmaceutical industry – that have emerged as a kind of secular priesthood during the pandemic. And to challenge them on their own terms, much like the group of citizen journalists who successfully rehabilitated the ‘lab leak’ hypothesis after it had been designated a ‘conspiracy theory’ in the pages of the Lancet. (Scientific and medical journals will also be in our sites.)

The temptation when debunking ‘the Science’ behind these policies is to see sinister cabals at work, bent on some secret plot to subvert democratic institutions and usher in a New World Order in which they control every aspect of our lives. But as someone who’s earned his living as a journalist for over 35 years, occasionally with a front row seat on the inner workings of government, I’m a subscriber to the cock-up theory of history. I see a great deal of vanity and hubris in the state’s mismanagement of this crisis, but not much planning or conspiring. I don’t doubt that plenty of clever, successful people in the Government’s orbit have seized upon opportunities during the past 16 months, enriching themselves or consolidating their power and status in some other way, and a fair few are now doing what they can to keep the gravy train on the road. But that’s a far cry from the ‘Plandemic’. History can in rare circumstances be bent to the will of an extraordinary individual, but it is never planned. Societies ‘reset’ themselves all the time, but not in a way that’s ‘great’ if by that is meant ‘permanent’, and I doubt even Klaus Schwab really believes that. He’s just a carnival barker standing outside a tent called ‘Davos’ and we shouldn’t take his flimflam too seriously.

I know some readers will disagree and I look forward to seeing that debate play out in the pages of the Daily Sceptic, much like it did in Lockdown Sceptics. I’m a free speech zealot. In February 2020, a couple of months before I created Lockdown Sceptics, I helped set up the Free Speech Union, a non-partisan, mass membership public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members and campaigns for free speech more widely. The timing was perfect since one of the hallmarks of the coronavirus crisis has been the suppression of dissenting voices within the scientific and public health communities – the creep of cancel culture into the hard sciences. That process was already underway, as any doctor who dissents from trans orthodoxy can tell you, but the pandemic acted like an accelerant. The Daily Sceptic, like Lockdown Sceptics, will campaign against this new climate of Maoist intolerance that is sweeping through our most important institutions and companies – and that includes taking the Mickey out of woke gobbledegook. Scientific censorship is a deadly serious business, but the way to take down the would-be Torquemadas is often to aim at the funny bone.

I hope you enjoy the new site. Do keep the contributions coming, both above and below the line. (Our email address remains the same.) And if you appreciate what we do, please help us keep the wolf from the door by making a donation. The Daily Sceptic, like Lockdown Sceptics, will be a labour of love, and the staff of seven is now a staff of five: me, Ian Rons, Will Jones, Noah Carl and Michael Curzon. But we also have wives and girlfriends and mortgages and families, and every little helps.

If you’re a subscriber to the daily email newsletter, you’ll still receive it but we are going to start sending it out from a new domain – DailySceptic.org – from tomorrow. So if you suddenly stop getting it, check your spam folder and if it’s in there move it to your inbox. After that, it should go straight to your inbox.

If you’re a below-the-line contributor, or someone who participates in the Forums, you’ll still be able to do that, but the site change means you’ll be logged out and you’ll need your username or password to log back in again. If you can’t remember them, just use the reset facility, although you’ll need to know one of them to reset the other. If you can’t remember either, email Ian Rons on lockdownsceptics@castironsolutions.co.uk.

The data we use to send out the daily email newsletter is owned by Lockdown Sceptics and we are transferring it to Skeptics Ltd, a company we’ve set up to publish the Daily Sceptic. We won’t be passing on this data to anyone else, but if you object to this transfer then please contact Ian Rons, our Data Protection Officer, at lockdownsceptics@castironsolutions.co.uk, within the next seven days and we’ll delete your data from our database.

CommentsBoris Johnson and Rishi Sunak Will Spend “Freedom Day” in Self-Isolation After Speedy U-Turn Due to Backlash Over Quarantine Exemption

By Michael Curzon

When it was first suggested that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak would need to self-isolate after coming into contact with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has tested positive for Covid, Downing Street reported that the pair would be exempt from the rule as part of a pilot scheme (how convenient!). They have since been forced to U-turn due to the backlash following the announcement and will spend ‘Freedom Day’ in isolation. Sky News has more.

“The Prime Minister has been contacted by NHS Test and Trace to say he is a contact of someone with Covid,” a spokesperson said.

“He was at Chequers when contacted by Test and Trace and will remain there to isolate. He will not be taking part in the testing pilot.

“He will continue to conduct meetings with ministers remotely. The Chancellor has also been contacted and will also isolate as required and will not be taking part in the pilot.”

Mr Sunak tweeted: “Whilst the test and trace pilot is fairly restrictive, allowing only essential Government business, I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong.

“To that end, I’ll be self-isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot.” …

Mr Javid revealed on Saturday that he had tested positive for Covid – only a day after the Health Secretary reportedly met with Mr Johnson in Downing Street.

But this morning, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick appeared on Sky News to defend Downing Street’s initial announcement that the PM and chancellor would not be isolating.

He said: “I appreciate the frustration [the public] might feel listening to this.

“They, like me, or other members of the public who are pinged will have to self-isolate in the usual way.”

Having seen Mr Jenrick sent on to the morning politics programmes to defend the original decision, Sky’s Political Correspondent Rob Powell described the situation as “baffling”.

“This is a pretty speedy U-turn,” he said.

While Mr Jenrick referred to being “pinged”, the PM and chancellor were in fact contacted by NHS Test and Trace directly rather than simply being alerted by the NHS Covid app.

That means that there is a legal obligation to self-isolate for 10 days, whereas being pinged by the app is only guidance. …

Mr Jenrick encouraged people to keep the app installed and self-isolate when pinged.

Worth reading in full.

CommentsSchools Closing Early for the Summer Break Due to Isolation Farce

By Michael Curzon

Isolation rules continue to wreak havoc – though it seemed for a moment that they wouldn’t affect the lives of our leaders. Some parents are taking their children out of school ahead of the summer break so as to remove the risk of the whole family having to quarantine because of a single positive Covid test in the classroom. A number of schools have also decided to take action by closing early or by moving again to online teaching. The Guardian has the story.

“It is an absolutely grim situation and a depressing end to an academic year in which schools and colleges have been fighting to keep education running for their students despite waves of disruption caused by the pandemic,” said Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.

“Schools are remaining open until the end of term where possible but we are hearing more reports of some having to close because of Covid-related cases and absence among pupils and staff.”

While many independent schools had already closed for the summer break some days ago, some state schools finished their term on July 16th, and others will continue to offer teaching for another week.

Official Government data published last week showed that 840,000 pupils were out of school self-isolating, the highest number since schools fully reopened in March. The figures reflect the continuing surge in infections across the country as well as the policy of sending home entire “bubbles” of children who have been in contact with a positive case, even though they have not tested positive themselves. These bubbles typically consist of either a single class or an entire year group.

The Government has said that from next week bubbles will no longer be required, while responsibility for contact tracing will be handed over to the NHS. However, self-isolation rules for those who are identified as close contacts of a Covid case, as well as those who are ‘pinged’ by the NHS app, will remain in place for another month for the whole population.

School leaders say they are exasperated by a lack of clear guidance from the Department for Education, which they feel shifts responsibility for determining what is best for the school and the local community on to them. Some have reported that parents are angry with approaches from schools which they believe to be inconsistent with the rules.

One headteacher at an infant school told the Observer that three-quarters of pupils and 12 staff members had been sent home over the last four weeks. Nearly a third of pupils who had only just returned to school last Monday after isolation were sent home again on Friday, with six staff members off.

He said 10% of children were currently off school for non-Covid reasons, with many of their parents phoning in to say they were worried about disruption to holiday and social plans, even though this would constitute an unauthorised absence. …

Local news reports showed that schools in Southend, Winchester, Swindon, Pembrokeshire and Salisbury have all been forced to close early and switch to online learning to prevent entire year groups from having to self-isolate and to deal with staff shortages. Meanwhile, findings from the app that surveys parents, Parent Ping, showed that on July 5th 15% were considering taking their children out of school.

Worth reading in full.

CommentsAll U.K. Adults Have Been Offered a First Dose of a Covid Vaccine

By Michael Curzon

All U.K. adults have been offered a first dose of a Covid vaccine a day ahead of schedule, the Government has announced. But the success of the national vaccine roll-out has not persuaded the Prime Minister to give back more freedoms on ‘Freedom Day’, with mask-wearing still to be encouraged and the introduction of vaccine passports in a number of domestic settings seemingly imminent. Sky News has the story.

The Department of Health and Social Care said more than 46.2 million people had now had a first dose (87.8% of the [adult] population), while 35.7 million had received both shots (67.8%).

Boris Johnson had set July 19th as the date to offer all over-18s a jab, as well as to fully vaccinate two in three people.

It has been met a day before most existing coronavirus restrictions end in England.

The Prime Minister said today’s milestone was an “extraordinary achievement” and that it comes just eight months after the first shot was administered.

Graphic from Sky News.

“Thank you again to everyone coming forward, and to those helping others to get jabbed,” he said.

“You are the reason we are able to cautiously ease restrictions next week, and return closer towards normal life. Now let’s finish the job. If you’re over 18, book both your jabs today.”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who’s isolating after contracting the virus himself, said it was “testament to the sheer dedication of NHS teams and local volunteers” who’ve been giving out the jabs.

Every adult will now have the chance to be double-jabbed by mid-September, added the Department of Health.

However, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph, ministers have decided against a mass vaccination of under-18s and will only offer a jab to those who are vulnerable.

Worth reading in full.

CommentsCloth Face Masks Might Make You Feel Better but They Won’t Protect You From Covid

By Michael Curzon

A standard face masks act as nothing more than a “comfort blanket” and offers little protection against Covid, a scientific adviser to SAGE has said ahead of the partial easing of the mask mandate on Monday. The Telegraph has the story.

Dr Colin Axon, who has advised the Government on minimising the risk of cross-infection in supermarkets, accused medics of presenting a “cartoonish” view of how tiny particles travel through the air.

He warned some cloth masks have gaps which are invisible to the naked eye, but are 500,000 times the size of viral Covid particles.

“The small sizes are not easily understood but an imperfect analogy would be to imagine marbles fired at builders’ scaffolding, some might hit a pole and rebound, but obviously most will fly through,” he told the Telegraph.

The mask debate has been reignited this week after the Government published “Freedom Day” guidance recommending their continued use. It led to Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, enforcing their continued use on the London Underground.

Dr Axon said the public need to be offered a wider view of the science behind face masks, rather than the “partial view” of information being pushed by medics over their effectiveness.

“Medics have this cartoonised view of how particles move through the air – it’s not their fault, it’s not their domain – they’ve got a cartoonish view of how the world is,” he said.

“Once a particle is not on a biological surface it is no longer a biomedical issue, it is simply about physics. The public has only a partial view of the story if information only comes from one type of source. Medics have some of the answers but not a whole view.” …

An Oxford study last summer concluded that masks were “effective” in reducing the spread of the virus.

However, other studies have cast doubt on their effectiveness. A subsequent Danish study involving 6,000 people concluded that there was no statistical difference in infection spread in non-wearers, while data on U.S. states with non-mandated usage failed to show a correlated uptick in cases.

“The public were demanding something must be done, they got masks, it is just a comfort blanket,” Dr Axon noted. “But now it is entrenched, and we are entrenching bad behaviour.”

Worth reading in full.

CommentsPeak of the Delta Surge Elusive for England, While Scotland’s Decline Continues

By Will Jones

It appears that the anticipated peak of the current surge in England has not yet arrived, and the recent slowdowns may have been temporary.

U.K. positive Covid tests by date reported

As of today, ZOE data is now beginning to show the uptick in infections that Government data has shown over the past week, reversing what had appeared to be (including to ZOE lead scientist Tim Spector) the early signs of a declining trend.

Early Indian variant hotspot Bolton, which had peaked and gone into decline in mid-May, is now spiking again.

Bolton positive Covid tests by specimen date

Localities as far apart as Carlisle, Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire and North Devon and also surging.

Carlisle positive Covid tests by specimen date
Rushcliffe positive Covid tests by specimen date
North Devon positive Covid tests by specimen date

Neil Ferguson popped up again yesterday morning to predict up to 200,000 ‘cases’ a day in the not-so-distant future. However, it’s important to recognise that the ‘case’ figures for this surge are not comparable to those of earlier surges as testing numbers are now almost double what they were before March when mass testing with lateral flow devices came in.

Test positivity is currently only around 3%, according to Our World in Data, compared with around 7.7% at the autumn peak and 12.8% at the winter peak.

Nonetheless, there can be no doubt this is a real virus surge, despite being summer – the Delta variant appears not to be as afraid of the sunshine as other variants. As of July 10th the ONS infection survey has both England and Scotland on just over 1% community prevalence of COVID-19.

Interestingly Scotland’s decline in reported positive tests has continued, holding out hope that 1-2% prevalence may be the peak of this surge.

Scotland positive Covid tests by date reported

U.K. Hospital admissions are still relatively low but are now increasing. Deaths are still very low, though up a bit.

U.K Covid hospital admissions

So once again we’re left waiting to see how high it will go, and what impact it will have on hospital admissions and deaths. One difference this time though is restrictions are being lifted during the surge, not imposed, so we may finally have a clear test in this country of the theory that restrictions are necessary to bring infections down. The fact that ‘Freedom Day’ in any form is going ahead despite the ongoing surge is a sign of the strength of scepticism in Government and among Conservative MPs. Many are determined that now the vulnerable are vaccinated there can be no further justification for lockdowns, however high infections get, as what then would we be locking down for?

Why has this surge been wavier than previous ones, with a number of temporary plateaus or short term declines that were mistaken for peaks? Is it the warmer weather making progress more faltering? Is it the vaccines causing unexpected changes in the course of the epidemic, with the surge in the vaccinated coming later than in the unvaccinated? Could it even be all the gatherings for Euro 2020 putting rocket boosters under the spread? Or something else?

As so often, the drivers of the epidemic remain somewhat mysterious. Nonetheless, Scotland’s continued decline gives hope the peak is not too far away. Let’s hope so, as surges are always great for those who want an excuse to push through more Covid nonsense.

CommentsLockdown Summit of Experts and Analysts Challenges the Narrative on Lockdowns, Testing, Masks and More

By Will Jones

The Question Everything Lockdown Summit took place in London yesterday and featured contributions from many of the lockdown sceptics that have featured prominently on this site over the past year, including Professor David Paton, Professor David Livermore, Dr Clare Craig, Toby and myself. The full video recording (nine hours) is now up on Dan Astin-Gregory’s YouTube channel to watch at leisure. The schedule ran as follows, with time stamps within the links.

CommentsVaccine Passports Are Dead – Long Live Vaccine Passports!

By Toby Young

We’re publishing an original piece today by Dr. David Livermore, Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of East Anglia, a member of HART, and a contributor to Collateral Global, about Covid status certificates – or vaccine passports to you and me. He’s not opposed to immigration officers demanding to see evidence that you’ve been double jabbed or tested negative as a condition of entering their country. But he does draw the line at internal use of vaccine passports – as a condition of attending a pop concert, for instance. He’s done a back-of-the-envelope calculation and concluded that admitting the unvaccinated, who will soon make up no more than 10% of the population, won’t pose a major risk and in any event will be outnumbered by the vaccinated who can still transmit the disease.

Suppose a concert is attended by 1,000 people, 900 vaccinated and 100 unvaccinated, which is about the current split. Assume also that vaccines confer around 80% protection – 95% for Pfizer and Moderna and 63-76% for AZ, and that 20% of the unvaccinated are immune through prior infection.

On that basis, the audience will include 80 unvaccinated ‘vulnerables’ and 180 potential vaccine failures. In other words, unvaccinated ‘hazards’ are outnumbered 2:1 by the vaccinated ‘hazards’. ZOE app data, showing that infections in the (large) vaccinated population are beginning to outnumber those in the (small and diminishing) unvaccinated population illustrate how, nationally, we are on track to reach such ratios.

In these circumstances, excluding the unvaccinated won’t dramatically alter the risk to the audience. Rather, the good news is that 740 of the 1000 attendees ([80% x 900]+[20% x 100]) are protected by successful vaccination or prior infection and this proportion, replicated across the population outside, should give sufficient herd immunity to prevent the virus regaining traction. Moreover, it’s generally accepted that vaccination gives better than 80% protection against severe infection, meaning that the vaccinated vulnerables aren’t at much risk.

As for the 80 unvaccinated vulnerables, have we not reached the point where it is their business if they choose to hazard more severe infection? They may also smoke or drink excessively. Or, despite limited mountaineering experience, join a commercial climb of Mt Everest, as promoted by this Everest Expedition service, whose blurb includes the wonderful encouragement: “If you want to experience what it feels like to be on the highest point on the planet and have strong economic background to compensate for your old age and your fear of risks, you can sign up for the VVIP Mount Everest Expedition Service.”

Worth reading in full.

CommentsNews Round-Up

By Jonathan Barr

Comments

Theme Tunes Suggested by Readers

Eight today: “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” by Noel Coward, “Daydream Believer” by The Monkees, “As Time Goes By” by Dooley Wilson, “What A Day For A Daydream” by Right Said Fred, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “When Will I See You Again” by the Three Degrees, “My Way” by Frank Sinatra and  “What A Difference A Day Makes” by Dinah Washington.

Love in the Time of Covid

Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights

We have created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, including a dating forum called “Love in a Covid Climate” that has attracted a bit of attention. We have a team of moderators in place to remove spam and deal with the trolls, but sometimes it takes a little while so please bear with us. You have to register to use the Forums as well as post comments below the line, but that should just be a one-time thing. Any problems, email Lockdown Sceptics here.

Social Media Accounts

You can follow Lockdown Sceptics on our social media accounts which are updated throughout the day. To follow us on Facebook, click here; to follow us on Twitter, click here; to follow us on Instagram, click here; to follow us on Parler, click here (temporarily disabled); and to follow us on MeWe, click here.

Woke Gobbledegook

We’ve decided to create a permanent slot down here for woke gobbledegook. Today, we are flagging the Mail On Sunday’s report on some of the episodes which have been recorded as non-crime hate incidents, from whistling the theme tune of Bob the Builder to leaving a burger bun on the driveway. They break no law but they’re kept on people’s records for six years, and can be disclosed to prospective employers.

A man has been landed with a police record for ‘racial hatred’ for whistling the Bob The Builder theme tune at his neighbour.

Officers in Bedfordshire recorded the incident as a non-crime hate incident, which will remain on file for six years and could be disclosed to prospective employers.

Few other details about the “crime” are known, but it is just one of the bizarre cases unearthed by an investigation into the controversial practice of recording “hate incidents” even if no law has been broken.

Others include a swimming teacher in West Yorkshire given a police record after a child’s mother claimed her son had been allowed to bang his head against the side of the pool “due to his ethnicity”, and a gay man who alleged he had been ripped off by a drug dealer because of his sexuality.

In Norfolk, a Portuguese national said an unknown person had deliberately left a burger bun on their driveway “due to their ethnicity”.

Under the Hate Crime Operational Guidelines, adopted in 2014, forces are required to record any actions deemed to be motivated by an element of hate, even if there is no evidence to prove them.

In total, 10,840 non-crime hate incidents were logged last year, bringing the total in the past five years to 120,000 – but Freedom of Information requests sent to 43 police forces in England and Wales failed to identify a single crime that had been solved as a result.

Campaigners have called for the “Orwellian” system to be scrapped, claiming a police record could jeopardise a person’s career even if they were not charged with a crime.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: In the New York Post, Jon Levine has investigated some of the teaching vacancies currently being advertised by some of the city’s prestigious private schools. They are thoroughly woke.

Many of New York City’s once-vaunted private schools are hunting for the next generation of woke educators to preach the gospel of anti-racism and critical race theory, a review of job applications by the Post shows.

Leading the way is Ethical Culture Fieldston School, which is on the market for a ballet instructor “committed to challenging Western dance forms and the hierarchical and pedagogical practices that often centre whiteness in dance classrooms and on stages”, according to a job description posted to the school’s website.

Even science at Fieldston – a Bronx institution where tuition is $55,510 a year – has not been spared the progressive mandate. A posting seeking an upper school biology teacher said applicants should have “an understanding of and commitment to cultural competency, and how to support a diverse student population, especially through teaching more inclusive science curricula”.

A rep for Fieldston did not respond to a request asking for clarification about what an “inclusive science curricula” was.

STEM subjects face a similar wokening at Grace Church School – $57,330 a year – in downtown Manhattan, where wanted Math and Science Centre consultants must have a “commitment to antiracism and accessibility of student education for diverse learners”.

One of the responsibilities listed for a secretary position at the $58,350-a-year Riverdale Country School is to proofread report cards “for proper use of pronouns”. …

Riverdale’s opening for a Lower School associate teacher stresses the need for applicants “committed to work in the areas of equity, justice, and inclusion”.

The $58,505-a-year Trinity School on the Upper West Side made similar demands of applicants for their elementary teachers:

“Candidates need… to create an equitable classroom culture inclusive of varied student experiences as well as an awareness of how race, gender, and other aspects of identity manifest themselves in the early childhood classroom,” a job description reads. The school says it is “expressly committed to becoming an anti-racist institution”.

A rep for Trinity defended its standards.

“We have a diverse student body and on a daily basis we want to make sure that all students in every classroom feel safe and loved,” spokesman Kevin Ramsey told The Post.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press 2: The American Booksellers’ Association sent a promotional letter to 750 retailers that prompted an angry backlash over the inclusion of Abigail Shrier’s bestseller, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. The Association swiftly followed up with a grovelling apology. Geraldine Massey has the story in her ‘What’s Woke This Week’ column in Spectator Australia.

The American Booksellers’ Association each month sends a promotional selection of books to member retail outlets. July’s selection included a copy of journalist Abigail Shrier’s bestselling critical analysis of the treatment of gender dysphoria, Irreversible Damage: the Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters.  

Overwrought melodramatic Twitter feedback from woke booksellers ensued. Quelle surprise! And the ABA’s response? Pathetic, grovelling capitulation won out over a spirited defence of free speech:  

“An anti-trans book was included in our July mailing to members. This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable.”

“We apologise to our trans members and to the trans community for this terrible incident and the pain we caused them. We also apologise to the LGBTQIA+ community at large, and to our bookselling community. Apologies are not enough. We’ve begun addressing this today and are committed to engaging in the critical dialogue needed to inform concrete steps to address the harm we caused.”

One could be forgiven for thinking that an army of savage books had jumped out of boxes and physically attacked hapless booksellers who were no match for their bigoted ferocity, armed as they were with only an array of pronouns and gender flags.  

Worth reading in full.

Douglas Murray was equally unimpressed by the American Booksellers’ Association.

Stop Press 3: Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party is publishing a new policy document today arguing that Free Speech should be given legal protection in order to break the tide of cancel culture, the Sun reports. It was written by lockdown sceptic lawyer Francis Hoar and has a forward by Lord Sumption.

“Mask Exempt” Lanyards

We’ve created a one-stop shop down here for people who want to obtain a “Mask Exempt” lanyard/card – because wearing a mask causes them “severe distress”, for instance. You can print out and laminate a fairly standard one for free here and the Government has instructions on how to download an official “Mask Exempt” notice to put on your phone here. And if you feel obliged to wear a mask but want to signal your disapproval of having to do so, you can get a “sexy world” mask with the Swedish flag on it here.

A reader has started a website that contains some useful guidance about how you can claim legal exemption. Another reader has created an Android app which displays “I am exempt from wearing a face mask” on your phone. Available free of charge.

If you’re a shop owner and you want to let your customers know you will not be insisting on face masks or asking them what their reasons for exemption are, you can download a friendly sign to stick in your window here.

And here’s an excellent piece about the ineffectiveness of masks by a Roger W. Koops, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry. See also the Swiss Doctor’s thorough review of the scientific evidence here and Prof Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson’s Spectator article about the Danish mask study here.

Stop Press: The Telegraph reports that confusion abounds as businesses and public transport networks set their own requirements for face masks.

Passengers face a chaotic commute on ‘Freedom Day’ after rail bosses said face masks must be worn on busy platforms but can be removed if boarding a quiet train.

The Government has removed the legal requirement for people to wear masks on public transport and in shops and other indoor spaces from Monday. Instead, guidance says it “expects and recommends” people to wear masks in these settings.

The move has left businesses with the responsibility of setting their own requirements on whether they expect customers to wear masks.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents passenger and freight rail companies, said passengers would be encouraged to wear masks when stations are busy. Many rail operators have said they will expect passengers to put on masks when in a crowded carriage.

It raises the prospect of passengers having to put on and then remove coverings throughout a journey, depending which rail service or station they are using and how busy it is.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press 2: Dr. Gary Sidley attacked masks on NTD News, telling viewers that the evidence they reduce viral transmission is “weak and inconsistent” at best.

Stop Press 3: Psychologist Emma Kenny told GB News that masks have a negative impact on child development and on people with sensory issues.

The Great Barrington Declaration

Professor Martin Kulldorff, Professor Sunetra Gupta and Professor Jay Bhattacharya

The Great Barrington Declaration, a petition started by Professor Martin Kulldorff, Professor Sunetra Gupta and Professor Jay Bhattacharya calling for a strategy of “Focused Protection” (protect the elderly and the vulnerable and let everyone else get on with life), was launched in October and the lockdown zealots have been doing their best to discredit it ever since. If you googled it a week after launch, the top hits were three smear pieces from the Guardian, including: “Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’.” (Freddie Sayers at UnHerd warned us about this the day before it appeared.) On the bright side, Google UK has stopped shadow banning it, so the actual Declaration now tops the search results – and Toby’s Spectator piece about the attempt to suppress it is among the top hits – although discussion of it has been censored by Reddit. In February, Facebook deleted the GBD’s page because it “goes against our community standards”. The reason the zealots hate it, of course, is that it gives the lie to their claim that “the science” only supports their strategy. These three scientists are every bit as eminent – more eminent – than the pro-lockdown fanatics so expect no let up in the attacks. (Wikipedia has also done a smear job.)

You can find it here. Please sign it. Now over three quarters of a million signatures.

Update: The authors of the GBD have expanded the FAQs to deal with some of the arguments and smears that have been made against their proposal. Worth reading in full.

Update 2: Many of the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration are involved with new UK anti-lockdown campaign Recovery. Find out more and join here.

Update 3: You can watch Sunetra Gupta set out the case for “Focused Protection” here and Jay Bhattacharya make it here.

Update 4: The three GBD authors plus Prof Carl Heneghan of CEBM have launched a new website collateralglobal.org, “a global repository for research into the collateral effects of the COVID-19 lockdown measures”. Follow Collateral Global on Twitter here.

Stop Press: Professor Jay Bhattacharya, editor-in-chief of Collateral Global, has sat down with Lord Sumption to discuss the legal and ethical questions presented by the policy response to COVID-19, the historical context and the potential ramifications.

Judicial Reviews Against the Government

There are now so many legal cases being brought against the Government and its ministers we thought we’d include them all in one place down here.

The Simon Dolan case has now reached the end of the road, and it looks as though the Robin Tilbrook case has too. Neither claimant was granted permission for a judicial review against the Government, unfortunately, although Tilbrook says he’s going to appeal.

The GoodLawProject and three MPs – Debbie Abrahams, Caroline Lucas and Layla Moran – brought a Judicial Review against Matt Hancock for failing to publish details of lucrative contracts awarded by his department and it was upheld. The Court ruled Hancock had acted unlawfully.

Lawyers for more than 2,000 families who lost loved ones during the pandemic are taking legal action to try to force the Prime Minister to hold an immediate public inquiry into the government’s handling of the crisis. The group, called COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, is seeking permission for a Judicial Review. The group’s lawyers are arguing that the Government has a duty under human rights law to hold an urgent judge-led statutory inquiry, because there is evidence that thousands of people died needlessly as a result of decisions taken by ministers. You can read more about that group and contribute to the fundraiser here.

Then there’s John’s Campaign which is focused specifically on care homes and began a legal process to challenge guidance which recommends that care home residents who go on visits outside should isolate for 14 days upon their return. The Government’s initial response stated that this was was not a legal requirement, and that it is up to individuals care homes to determine how best to protect residents from Covid. On May 1st it was reported that the guidance was going to change to no longer recommend the period of self isolation after a visit to a garden or an outdoor space, such as a park or a beach. Read more about the case and get updates here.

Scottish Church leaders from a range of Christian denominations judicially reviewed the decision of the Scottish Government to close churches, supported by the Christian Legal Centre. The church leaders argued that it was a disproportionate step, and one which has serious implications for freedom of religion. The review was upheld, with the judge ruling on March 23rd, 2021 that that the Scottish Ministers’ decision to ban and criminalise gathered worship was unconstitutional and a disproportionate interference in worshippers Article 9 ECHR rights. Read more about the victory here.

There’s the class action lawsuit being brought by Dr Reiner Fuellmich and his team in various countries against “the manufacturers and sellers of the defective product, PCR tests”. Dr Fuellmich explains the lawsuit in this video. Dr Fuellmich has also served cease and desist papers on Professor Christian Drosten, co-author of the Corman-Drosten paper which was the first and WHO-recommended PCR protocol for detection of SARS-CoV-2. That paper, which was pivotal to the roll out of mass PCR testing, was submitted to the journal Eurosurveillance on January 21st and accepted following peer review on January 22nd. The paper has been critically reviewed here by Pieter Borger and colleagues, who also submitted a retraction request which has now been rejected. The Jerm Warfare blog has published an interview with Reiner Fuellmich about his plans to take the World Health Organisation, and others, to court for “crimes against humanity”.

Hugh Osmond, the founder of Punch Taverns and a former director of Pizza Express, and Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester’s night time economy adviser submitted a claim for a Judicial Review about the fact that indoor hospitality venues have had to remain closed for weeks longer than non-essential shops in England. Their case was initially expedited, but on May 3rd, 2021 it was dismissed on the grounds that, by then, the hearing could not take place until after May 17th, the date on which the sector would be permitted to reopen.

Law Firm PGMBM is acting on behalf of an NHS worker, a pensioner and a gig economy worker to challenge the Government’s charges for hotel quarantine for residents coming into the UK from a red list country. Read about that case, and support it, here.

Lawyers from the Law or Fiction group launched a legal challenge against a multi-academy trust in Sheffield to try and stop children having to wear masks in school, but were unsuccessful. You can read about the judge’s decision on Law or Fiction’s CrowdJustice page here.

The Law or Fiction group is also bringing a case against an employer who’s made the vaccine mandatory. It relates to Barchester Healthcare which is planning to impose a ‘No Jab, No Job’ policy on its 17,000 staff. Read more about that case and support it here.

And last but not least there was the Free Speech Union‘s challenge to Ofcom over its ‘coronavirus guidance’. A High Court judge refused permission for the FSU’s judicial review on December 9th and the FSU has decided not to appeal the decision. Check here for details.

Stop Press: Debbie Hicks, the anti-lockdown campaigner who was arrested after posting a video on Facebook of a recording she’d made of a largely empty ward at Gloucester Royal Hospital, is facing trial and has started a fundraiser to help pay for her legal defence. You can donate here.

Samaritans

If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.

Shameless Begging Bit

Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation in the past 24 hours to pay for the upkeep of this site. Doing these daily updates is hard work (although we have help from lots of people, mainly in the form of readers sending us stories and links). If you feel like donating, please click here. And if you want to flag up any stories or links we should include in future updates, email us here. (Don’t assume we’ll pick them up in the comments.)

And Finally…

What would Boris Johnson the Telegraph columnist and fierce advocate for liberty make of Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister who put the country in lockdown? To find out, Kate Andrews spoke to Boris’s former colleague and ex-girlfriend Petronella Wyatt on the latest edition of Spectator TV. Boris does have an instinctively liberal set of beliefs, she confirmed, but they “are not so deeply held that they can’t be sacrifice for what he sees as political expediency”. If he were still a Spectator journalist, however, he would be decrying the restrictions as “an appalling restriction of freedom”. The old Boris, she says, “would be hating himself as Prime Minister”.

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