Say No to the Lockdown

Never surrender your right to be with the people you love

For the last 6 months I have been living with an underlying rage at how the world is behaving. I am not an activist nor even someone who publicly voices an opinion much, but the announcement of this second national lockdown has compelled me to do something. Our way of life is under a direct threat from the government, and I feel an obligation to at least attempt to stop what I see is an impending societal disaster. I despair at the way our leaders are behaving, but I despair even more at how so much of the British public seem to respond to that behaviour: not just with an unquestioning compliance, but with an apparent glee to condemn, report and destroy anyone who steps out of line.

It is difficult for me to adequately describe what I want to tell you in a few short sentences, but I appreciate most people are time poor, so here is a bulleted summary:

• This Johnson government has become a tyranny.
• It has used a very successful campaign of fear, encouraged and inflamed by all the media, to impose draconian laws that override many of our basic human rights, bypassing all the usual checks and balances (parliament, courts, the people).
• The campaign has been greatly encouraged by a similar and generally unified global response.
• Several very influential, very wealthy and powerful organisations have seized the opportunity to further their own interests, from Serco to the World Economic Forum, fanning the flames of fear and consequently beating the public into submission. This is not conspiracy; it is simply opportunism and self-interest.
• The unconstitutional and unscientific lockdowns and laws are killing people, destroying lives and livelihoods, and stealing from future generations who will have to bear the burden. And there is little or no evidence that they achieve anything positive.
• The gross corruption of the data and science, combined with the staggering levels of incompetence and dishonesty, has resulted in an almost entirely misleading picture of what this virus is, and how harmful it can be.
• The seriousness of this virus has undoubtedly been vastly overplayed: yes, it is killing people; but we now have enough excess death data (probably the only reliable indicator) to inform us that overall it is no worse than a bad influenza.
• We know that vulnerability to death from Covid is more than a thousand times higher in the old and infirm than the young. For children, it is less dangerous than many other harms, including influenza. There is no justification for killing people who are not at risk or destroying their lives and futures with lockdowns. It is only logical to focus protection on those who need it.
• The death and destruction caused by lockdowns has been ignored. Yes, governments can act to prevent society-wide threats, but the response must be proportionate and measured. In this case it is grossly disproportionate, and seemingly unmeasured. It is incumbent upon those who back the lockdowns to prove that they are necessary and effective.
• There will be no end to this destruction unless the public rejects it. There are those who want many of these destructive policies to become permanent. We must speak out. We must resist.

I know there is no reason for you to respect my opinion, or to waste your time on what I have to say. I can only urge you, please, to at least think about it. The points I make here are not my own, but those of very eminent professors, scientists, and doctors. I am scientifically educated. I am a sceptic and critical thinker. I was born into a country that was in the middle of a brutal civil war — we left as refugees when I was five. I witnessed that country disintegrate under its corrupt and power-hungry government, supported by many well-meaning but deluded outsiders. I am a parent, a business owner and I take care of my 82-year-old Dad: I am responsible for looking after and providing for a family and a group of employees, not just for now, but for the long term. I have obvious skin in the game, but no other motives outside of a feeling of duty to be an informed citizen.

If you get nothing else out of this, at least take away the point that there are many educated, thoughtful and well-meaning people like me who are not just vehemently opposed to the actions of this government, but who are also outraged, genuinely fearful of a genuine threat (not a virus), and becoming increasingly desperate.

This is a letter I wrote to my MP, Matt Hancock, on 23 September 2020:

Dear Mr Hancock

I am one of your constituents, in Bury St. Edmunds. My wife and I own a thriving retail business in town, and we have young children at two local schools. Through our business and the schools (my wife is a chair of governors at one), we contribute heavily to our community and work hard and diligently to keep ourselves and those around us healthy and employed so as to be contributors to, rather than a burden on society.

This government’s response to the virus outbreak is destroying people’s lives, and the ones they care for. Businesses are being wrecked, relationships and mental health are deteriorating, but perhaps most importantly our children’s futures are being decimated. They are being isolated, distanced and terrified at a vital stage of their social development; they are missing out on education; they are being massively burdened by future debts; and yet they face NO risk of death or severe illness from this disease. It is an appalling and grossly disproportionate burden for them to bear, particularly for those children in deprived households.

With COVID-19 deaths near zero, and total excess deaths consistently below the 5-year average, the government’s draconian laws seem massively disproportionate. I am extremely fearful for the dismal future of this country, caused by a government that seems to have lost the ability to reason, to act democratically or to respect individual human rights. I will never vote for a government so determined to ruin lives, nor an MP who doesn’t do everything in his power to ensure parliamentary scrutiny is returned; at a minimum pushing for the repeal of Schedule 21 of the Coronavirus Act.

The latest round of restrictions, destined to be with us for around 6 months, are likely to annihilate those businesses — like ours — that have already worked so hard over the last few months to keep everyone safe, sane and employed. The future lives that will be lost and/or ruined from these myopic actions will likely dwarf those from the disease. Why can’t you take some advice from Sweden — a country that has done enormously better than us in every single measure, and is now almost entirely free of restrictions and deaths?

At present I feel that neither you, nor indeed the government, represent us or our interests at all. I find it utterly abhorrent that the prime minister talks of using the army to prevent me from visiting my dear friends and family. A future vision of a “daily test” before I am given permission to go about my day, is nothing short of dystopia. Has no one in this government read any history? We have always lived with viruses; we will continue to live with viruses; and my vision is to continue my responsible individual actions of following a healthy lifestyle with healthy social interactions, using medicine and vaccines as appropriate whilst being mindful of looking out for others as much as possible. To this end I will do everything in my power to oppose you and your government, until such time as you see some sense and change course.

I received the response I was expecting, in short:

Throughout we have followed the science, and taken an objective, fact-led approach to tackling this pandemic. I want to assure you that we will take no action that is not proportionate, and based firmly on the science.

Matt

It is now 1st November, and we are staring over the precipice of a second national lockdown. For me this is an awful and defining moment.

I felt very fortunate at the start of the first national lockdown: our business was deemed to be “essential,” the weather was great, and with the promise of only a two week effort to “Protect the NHS,” we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was also able to dedicate myself to home schooling my children, so they did not miss out — academically at least. Many others were far less fortunate.

Predictably, the two-week lockdown turned into a summer of ever-changing, ever more detailed rules and restrictions and curbs on liberties; this despite the obvious — many would say inevitable — decline of the virus, and a very under-capacity NHS. As with most government laws, these new rules were hard to remove once in place. When face masks were deemed to be mandatory, I argued that coronavirus deaths were close to zero (they were) and infections were going down: what on earth would be the criteria that would reverse the mask mandate? Nobody knew. Nobody seemed to care. If you follow the likes of Fauci you will know that people like him seem to think the continued usage of masks, indefinitely, will simply be part of a “new normal.” To me, compulsory face masks are an abomination, doing great damage to our society: they serve as a constant reminder to be fearful and wary of each other; they break down non-verbal communication; and they serve as a good visual sign of compliance (or not) creating unnecessary division and anger. And the evidence for their effectiveness is incredibly weak.

I am not one for conspiracy theories, but it is clear to me that a lot of influential people have jumped at the opportunities presented by this global crisis. The government has been so successful at spreading fear (an early SAGE objective), that they can pass dramatic new laws — including house arrest — without any parliamentary scrutiny at all. They have suppressed our ability to debate, including through Ofcom’s coronavirus broadcast guidelines that state any broadcast opinions should “not be presented in such a way as to risk undermining viewers’ trust in official health advice.” Think about that statement. Whether the government has ill intentions, or simply thinks it can play God, the resulting power-grab is unbelievably dangerous. Why are people so willing to surrender their rights?

This second lockdown will be far, far worse than the first. I know it will not last a month. I know it will not “stop the virus.” I know it will be massively destructive, in terms of economic damage, lives lost, the decline of our collective mental health, and the resulting fallout from the ballooning government debt. I do not think that it will achieve anything positive — most evidence I can find suggests that lockdowns achieve nothing. A functioning democracy does not treat all its citizens like children. It does not dictate explicitly when they can or cannot leave their houses, who they can visit, or which businesses it arbitrarily decides can stay open (or not), based on the views of a small group of government-appointees. These are breaches of our fundamental rights. Why do so many citizens seem not to care? The answer to that, I believe, is because they have been bribed through furlough schemes and other hand-outs; eye-watering amounts of money stolen from our future generations. Thankfully, I think there are a significant number of angry and desperate people, like me, who see this is fundamentally wrong, and wish to resist. I expect this despotic government will use the police and the army to wage a war on us.

To those who support and encourage this authoritarian Johnson government or indeed any draconian lockdowns forced upon us by anyone, I strongly urge you to think hard about what you are doing. I would never deny you the freedom to live your own life as you see fit. You are free to hide in your house, close your business and even encourage others to do the same. If you are genuinely concerned about your or someone else’s health I will do everything within reason to help, whoever you are. I accept that a functioning society requires compromise and some collective action. But do not ask the government to impose measures that will almost certainly destroy many people’s ability to feed, educate and support their families. Your irrational fears and brainwashed opinions do not override others’ rights to live. Yes, you might say it is my opinion that is brainwashed, but I am not forcing that opinion on you through the might of law. That is the significant difference between your approach and mine. It is astonishing to me that many of the people who bellowed and riled against Johnson’s obvious lies over Brexit, seem to now be encouraging him to take over much more control of our lives. To me you are, perhaps unwittingly, the foot soldier of the war against our freedoms, our livelihoods, the wellbeing of our families, and the future hopes and dreams of our children.

To those who are not supportive of this government but feel an obligation to comply and follow the law, I fully understand your position. Respect for the law is a vital element of a civilised society. But I urge you to consider that this government is acting outside of the law. There is in fact a legal case in progress — though you probably have not heard about it. Laws are not necessarily just, and it is incumbent upon us to understand them, and voice our concerns if we feel they are wrong. I urge you to also consider just how much damage this government is doing: talk to people who have lost their jobs, whose children are falling behind at school, whose isolated grandparents are suffering and dying alone.

To those who I believe have the independence and clarity of thought to see through the lies and beyond the fearmongering to the real and present danger, this is a call to action. I honestly believe we are at a pivotal time. You must speak up. You must resist. If you do not, these restrictions will never end, and children’s futures will be dire. There are so many awful deceptions, discrepancies, lies, and incompetent acts surrounding this debacle. Most of them are hidden, dismissed, or framed in a political context to render them tribal (or biased). If you can, write to your MP, and tell him or her to put a stop to this madness. And encourage others to do so too. Defy this rogue government where you can. Say no to the lockdown.

Below is a small sample of some of my expert sources.

On Government Tyranny

My expert witness is Lord Sumption, former Justice of the Supreme Court. In a recent lecture at Cambridge he makes a devastating case against Government by Decree. Please read it, or watch him talk.

Simon Dolan, a private entrepreneur, took the government to court over the lockdown back in May. The case has still not been heard. This is easily as important as the Gina Miller case against the government over Brexit, and yet you will find almost no mention of it from any media source.

I believe compulsory face masks are a key part of this tyranny, as described in this excellent article on the Covid Muzzle.

On Creating Fear

You could go directly to the SAGE document for this — the language in it is extraordinary. There is also a great analysis of what they are doing at the Evidence Not Fear website. It is worth pointing out that it was only due to the legal threat from Simon Dolan’s court case that many SAGE documents were made public.

On Lockdowns

There are many eminent professors and scientists who are opposed to national lockdowns, because they are ineffective, or because they do more harm than good. These are just a couple of good sources:

1. Prof Carl Heneghan (and others) at the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine.

2. Prof Sunetra Gupta, Dr Karol Sikora, Dr Michael Levitt (Nobel prize winner) and others who participated in the Great Barrington Declaration.

Macmillan Cancer Support “has found that there are 50,000 people now missing a cancer diagnosis who are at risk of becoming the forgotten ‘C’ of the coronavirus crisis.”

Many more people are dying at home this year (the vast majority not of, nor even with Covid). ONS data up to the 11 September shows 25,472 home deaths above the 5-year average. This has almost certainly been a result of sending people home and asking them to stay away from hospital. NHS bed occupancy is usually around 85%, but the Nuffield Trust explains “In Q1 2020/21, the bed occupancy rate decreased sharply to 64%, after trusts were asked to discharge all inpatients who were medically fit to leave to free up capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic.” I cannot find more recent data because the NHS has stopped publishing it. However, it seems clear that throughout the summer, hospitals have been distinctly under-­capacity.

Even Dr David Nabarro from the World Health Organisation now says, “We in the World Health Organisation do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus.

“The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganise, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.”

Finally, what about Sweden?

On Bad Data

A lot of this is just so glaringly obvious that it needs no explanation:

• Deaths are counted as “dying with” instead of “dying of.” A lot of deaths have been “assumed” as Covid deaths. Hospitals have been incentivised to attribute deaths to Covid. This makes all the figures unreliable and greatly exaggerated in one direction: up.
• Usually, a “case” represents a patient presenting with symptoms, then testing positive. Testing asymptomatic people, using an over-sensitive test, results in wildly inaccurate numbers of “cases.” Most of those “cases” are not cases.
• The government and media used to terrorise us with a daily death count. Then, when the death count went to near zero, they started terrorising us with the daily “case” count. Anecdotally, I know many people who did not notice the difference.
• False positives are a really serious problem. If you do not understand the implications of false positives, you should find out about it. More testing inevitably leads to more “cases.” I highly recommend Dr Michael Yeadon’s discussion on false positives. “But now the probability a person testing positive has the virus is an absurdly low 6%.”

It is worth listening to some other talks by Dr Yeadon who highlights with great clarity just how utterly unfit-for-purpose SAGE is.