Emergency powers in the coronavirus crisis

From the enforced lockdown to the exit strategy, what powers does the government need and how should it use them?

Decisions over how to impose the lockdown were made rapidly. They introduced some of the most stringent restrictions on ordinary life since World War II. But the government’s ‘wartime’ approach will become less appropriate as the coronavirus crisis develops.

Both the public and the police have struggled to understand where government guidance on the lockdown differs from the law. So as the lockdown eases, how might restrictions change? What level of parliamentary scrutiny will be required? How can the government introduce greater clarity? And, amid several legal challenges to aspects of the lockdown, how can the government ensure that its response to the pandemic is within the law?

To discuss these questions, we were joined by:

• David Allen Green, lawyer and journalist 
• Tom Hickman QC, Reader in Public Law at UCL and Barrister at Blackstone Chambers
• Raphael Hogarth, Associate at the Institute for Governent

The event was chaired by Dr Catherine Haddon, Senior Fellow at the Institue for Government.

Listen to the event

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