1 Ruling the Pandemic
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Dave Cowan
Abstract
I have spent more time wondering about how to start this chapter on ‘governing’ during the pandemic than actually writing it. Perhaps it could start with the almost daily shock felt in reading headlines and tweets linking Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) contracts and key personnel with the ruling party. Or we might start with the shift in the way of legislating which, on analyses from both the left and the right, has undermined the rule of law and the accountability of the Executive. What was said – rhetorically – about the ‘elected dictatorship’ or the ‘new despotism’ has given way to fresh realizations about its existence; perhaps the question is not, ‘who governs Britain?’, but how is Britain governed? Legislation, and secondary legislation, have combined with other forms of what Robert Megarry termed (in 1944) ‘administrative quasi-legislation’1; or, government by media briefing; or, in 240 characters, by tweet, exemplified by a tweet by Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government telling us that he was stopping evictions.
Another way to start this chapter might have been with a recognition of how things have changed over time. Since the invention of the Code of Guidance by the promulgation of the Highway Code, and successive forms of government by guidance, practice, circular, or letter (all of which seem rather quaint now), governments have used these forms as obtaining self-government by consent. As Ganz suggested (1987: 98), it is an empirical question whether government by consent in this way is effective.
Abstract
I have spent more time wondering about how to start this chapter on ‘governing’ during the pandemic than actually writing it. Perhaps it could start with the almost daily shock felt in reading headlines and tweets linking Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) contracts and key personnel with the ruling party. Or we might start with the shift in the way of legislating which, on analyses from both the left and the right, has undermined the rule of law and the accountability of the Executive. What was said – rhetorically – about the ‘elected dictatorship’ or the ‘new despotism’ has given way to fresh realizations about its existence; perhaps the question is not, ‘who governs Britain?’, but how is Britain governed? Legislation, and secondary legislation, have combined with other forms of what Robert Megarry termed (in 1944) ‘administrative quasi-legislation’1; or, government by media briefing; or, in 240 characters, by tweet, exemplified by a tweet by Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government telling us that he was stopping evictions.
Another way to start this chapter might have been with a recognition of how things have changed over time. Since the invention of the Code of Guidance by the promulgation of the Highway Code, and successive forms of government by guidance, practice, circular, or letter (all of which seem rather quaint now), governments have used these forms as obtaining self-government by consent. As Ganz suggested (1987: 98), it is an empirical question whether government by consent in this way is effective.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Preface xiii
- Series Editor’s Preface xv
- Introduction 1
-
Justice
- Ruling the Pandemic 15
- Remote Justice and Vulnerable Litigants: The Case of Asylum 27
- Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online? 41
- Genera-Relational Justice in the COVID-19 Recovery Period: Children in the Criminal Justice System 53
- Racism as Legal Pandemic: Thoughts on Critical Legal Pedagogies 65
- Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19 79
- COVID-19 PPE Extremely Urgent Procurement in England: A Cautionary Tale for an Overheating Public Governance 93
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The Social
- Accountability for Health and the NHS under COVID-19: The ‘Left behind’ and the Rule of Law in Post-Brexit UK 107
- COVID-19 in Adult Social Care: Futures, Funding and Fairness 119
- Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19 131
- Education, Austerity and the COVID-19 Generation 143
- What Have We Learned about the Corporate Sector in COVID-19? 155
- Social Security under and after COVID-19 171
- Maintaining the Divide: Labour Law and COVID-19 187
- From Loss to (Capital) Gains: Reflections on Tax and Spending in the Pandemic Aftermath 199
- Index 209
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Preface xiii
- Series Editor’s Preface xv
- Introduction 1
-
Justice
- Ruling the Pandemic 15
- Remote Justice and Vulnerable Litigants: The Case of Asylum 27
- Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online? 41
- Genera-Relational Justice in the COVID-19 Recovery Period: Children in the Criminal Justice System 53
- Racism as Legal Pandemic: Thoughts on Critical Legal Pedagogies 65
- Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19 79
- COVID-19 PPE Extremely Urgent Procurement in England: A Cautionary Tale for an Overheating Public Governance 93
-
The Social
- Accountability for Health and the NHS under COVID-19: The ‘Left behind’ and the Rule of Law in Post-Brexit UK 107
- COVID-19 in Adult Social Care: Futures, Funding and Fairness 119
- Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19 131
- Education, Austerity and the COVID-19 Generation 143
- What Have We Learned about the Corporate Sector in COVID-19? 155
- Social Security under and after COVID-19 171
- Maintaining the Divide: Labour Law and COVID-19 187
- From Loss to (Capital) Gains: Reflections on Tax and Spending in the Pandemic Aftermath 199
- Index 209
