Our human rights have been taken away

[Soph7777]

I know it's for a good cause.

I know it's to save lives.

But our basic human rights have been taken from under us, in the short space of a week.

I find this part most of all the scariest.

I'm really struggling mentally with government control to this extent.

How long can this last before people lose their minds and rebel?

If we're being honest I think the biggest danger is the police interpreting the rules however it suits them. There's a thread right now about the police in some area having decided that people aren't allowed to buy Easter Eggs as those aren't "essential". Which is not what the rules say, or what the intent of the rules was, it's just petty authoritarians taking advantage of the situation to bully people, and that kind of personality is often drawn to jobs that give them authority over others. That's what I think we really need to be watching out for rather than a grand conspiracy to bring in a totalitarian state. The police using drones to film and shame people doing harmless things like walking their dog was also worrying for the same reasons.

@waterlego

But the rules and regulations we are following do seem morally right (if anything they are not enough to protect the most vulnerable).

I find it more worrying that people are more bothered about being against the system or protecting their civil liberties then they are about protecting vulnerable family and friends and neighbours.

And i say this as someone who actively campaigns against gov. decisions and policy (disabled rights anyone?) and am a big defender of human rights and was a nightmare at school due to refusing to consent to authority, I also have at best no tolerance for the Tory government and am rather dubious about their ability to put anything but keeping the rich rich first. I also have a lot of complex mental health conditions and disorders which being in lock down is certainly exacerbating, I won't lie. But I accept that this issue right now is greater then myself, my wants and what i consider fair, its greater then any individual persons needs and wants. I also know that this is the only government we currently have and they are at least trying to manage the situation the best they can (albit too late, and after crippling the NHS and healthcare for 10 years, but thats another issue and won't change the current situation).

It's quite a bit more complicates than "Taiwan did phone tracking and that's why their death rate is lower"

I get why we have restrictions and people are abiding, which is great, but at the back of my mind I am concerned our rights won't be restored. I hope we are all watching and waiting for them to do this when this is all over.

But people should also remember

This government was voted in by the people

This is what the people decided they wanted.

I personally am not suprised by how it was handled, if im honest

But now IS NOT the time to stand up to fight the authority.

If it continues post pandemic once everything should be back to normal then yes I will be at the front of the fight to regain our human rights and liberties, but right now the priority is protecting as many people as possible.

And lets not forget human rights is a EU convention, the same EU we voted our government in because the vast majority wanted to leave, with no gaurentee that our government would up hold the same standards and now higher power to hold them accountable

LittleDragon Yes, they do seem morally right I agree. To me, and I suspect to the vast majority.

What I was referring to was commentators I have seen saying things like the example I posted.

Please note I am absolutely not fighting authority or trying to stage any sort of rebellion. I’m just finding it very interesting and sometimes worrying as a people-watcher!

*Why have the U.K let so many people live in starvation, poverty, and left so many homeless people dying in the streets?

They could have easily dedicated money to homeless people. So that every human being had a roof over their head, and enough food. There WAS money for this.

Why do they all of a sudden care about lives now.*

Because they know that most people don't care about the homeless, only their families. If people's own families are suffocating to death in hospital car parks there would be a possible civil war and they'd never be voted in again. That's why - to stop mass panic. I don't think they ever cared about lives that much.

And the money wasn't "always there", it's borrowed and will have to be paid back, through austerity. The horrible irony is that the poor/old/vulnerable they are shielding now will be the first to be fucked from austerity - people died from having insulin going warm in the fridge because they couldn't afford electric. But this happens quietly and slowly so people ignore it.

@TheProdigalKittensReturn Completely agree. Power-hungry cops are taking the new restrictions as far as they can; and enjoying every second of it.

I saw a story of a 13yo lad being arrested for not telling the police where he lived. They found out his address and then arrested his mum for not knowing where he was (in police terms, I'll find the article.)

A policeman had tweeted about it on his public account, got loads of stick and deleted it. He was expecting a pat on the back and it backfired hugely.

I apologise for the Mail link.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8164955/amp/Boy-13-arrested-breaking-new-coronavirus-lockdown-laws.html?twitterr_impression=true

Making it easier for people to be sectioned is genuinely worrying, and that's the kind of thing I can see quietly not being restored to normal after the crisis has passed and therefore the kind of thing that needs to be monitored closely and pressure applied if/when needed.

I agree Prodigalkitten and I can't see the need for police to post photos of someone's party buffet on Twitter either (especially when it's fairly obvious that they're not British)

They found out his address and then arrested his mum for not knowing where he was (in police terms, I'll find the article.)

Are parents normally legally required to know where their 13 year old is at all times? Because that seems completely unworkable.

LittleDragonGirl the Human Rights declaration is a UN thing, not EU.

But this is exactly what worries me. I don't think Boris Johnson has any desire to turn the UK into a police state, but the actual police? Some of them are of course good people who just want to do their jobs, but at the same time it's a profession that can attract some very unpleasant people and that therefore needs to be monitored very carefully for abuses of power.

Get a grip OP, its a temporary measure aimed at saving lives. Sometimes we need to suck it up and do things we're not exactly enamoured with for a while for the greater good

@Suniscomingout the EU have

The European convention on human rights.

@TheProdigalKittensReturn According to the new coronavirus laws; apparently so.

^'The male refused to give me any details so I could take him home under the Act. He was arrested and taken to custody.
'His mother was dealt with for being a responsible person failing to comply.'^

Fair enough Amy but the point is (my point) is that we still "have human rights" outside of the EU.

Is that actually what the Act says or one overzealous copper's interpretation of it? After the bloody ridiculous Easter Egg discussion, and the drones, I'm getting the distinct impression that each police force is making their own rules up as they go along.

Also, 13 year olds are perfectly capable of leaving the house even if told not to, and are in fact rather well known for doing so. How exactly are their parents meant to prevent that short of tying them to the furniture?

@TheProdigalKittensReturn
It looks like an overzealous, power-hungry interpretation.

(Sorry, another copy and paste from the article)
He was detained under the new law, known as the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020, which enables police to order members of the public to go home or leave an area.

The bloke who arrested him wrote this:
Senior Section Officer for West Yorkshire Police Ste Richardson posted a tweet, that has since been deleted, which read: 'Today I arrested a 13-year-old male under the new coronavirus powers.

I have thought about it more.

I don't agree with the severity of these restrictions

Schools, colleges, libraries, theatres, bars, restaurants, Shut for months on end? I am thinking about the people working there

So, what do you honestly think would happen if all those places were still open?

For those railing against their loss of freedom, please read this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a3866089-For-wanting-to-cry-each-time-I-read-a-thread-about-not-social-distancing?msgid=95164249#95164249

Sounds awfully pleased with himself, doesn't he? There are some people who will use any chance they get to exercise control over others. I'm far more worried about the lack of mechanisms to keep the police in check than I am about the guidelines as written.

If they could also find the time to investigate actual crimes that would be lovely too.

Schools, colleges, libraries, theatres, bars, restaurants, Shut for months on end? I am thinking about the people working there

Don't you think if you were in a room with 30 kids, you'd be feeling shit scared of catching it or infecting them? Every time a child touched your desk you have to resist disinfecting it?