Leading Jurist Talks of Covid-19 “Police State” Moves

The powers used by government to enforce compliance with restrictions on movement have been heavily criticised by former UK supreme court Justice Lord Sumption who has said the public should not be “resigning their liberty” to ovewr-zealous citizens in uniform.

A Guardian article reported the former justice when he heavily criticised Derbyshire police for stopping people exercising saying that such behaviour risks plunging Britain into a “police state”.

Lord Sumption warned that police had no legal power to enforce “ministers’ wishes.”

“This is what a police state is like, it is a state in which a government can issue orders or express preferences with no legal authority and the police will enforce ministers’ wishes,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s World at One.

On Sunday it emerged that Derbyshire police had dyed the usually turquoise water of a lagoon black in the beauty spot to deter tourists from visiting. They took the action as groups were congregating at the disused quarry at Harpur Hill near Buxton.