PRELIMINARY HEARING RESULT

I am extremely disappointed to let you know that following last week’s preliminary hearing, the judge has refused us permission to challenge lockdown.

In March, the government imposed the most draconian set of rules the country has ever known. Yet in the opinion of the court, lockdown was entirely correct and proportionate. This means that going forward, the government will have the right to impose lockdown whenever it chooses and in doing so, take-away the livelihoods of millions, without having to justify its actions.

You can view the entire judgement online here. It does not engage with, or consider on any analytical level, the vital issues we set out in the case. Nor does it take into account the impact all this has taken on ordinary people. Please do read it carefully and you will see exactly how our rights and freedoms have been dismissed. My barristers and solicitor are currently analysing the full judgment with view to an appeal.

While it is a disappointing final decision, we did score some vital victories along the way and embarrassed a failing Government.

We fought for the SAGE minutes to be published and the Government caved in, releasing huge batches of information. The revelations gave people living under lockdown rightful access to information which had been behind closed doors but was key in stripping away their freedoms. The reluctantly released SAGE minutes highlighted that scientists accept the virus does not pose a threat to children and that closing schools has minimal impact on the spread, again exposing the mockery of the Government’s position.

Our pressure also exposed the trick of words the Government used to close schools for millions of children for months on end. The judge held in his judgment that there is "no legal requirement on any school in England to close". Yet millions of pupils - the vast majority of them – have had no proper access to education since March and still don't. The court has refused to let our challenge to this sorry state of affairs proceed.

This was all against a backdrop of the Government trying to delay our case as much as possible.

But more than anything, this legal action has given a voice to those who have had freedoms stripped away with no democratic process.

I wanted to launch the legal action because it was terrifyingly obvious the Government needed to be challenged. Parliament has been a bystander throughout. Ministers have repeatedly signed legislation into law without scrutiny, debate or votes by MPs – until weeks after the event.

This legal campaign is not only mine but that of the 6,500 people who donated more than £200,000 to crowdfund the action.

Many of those supporters have shared the devastating personal effect lockdown had and will continue to have on their lives. I want to thank each and every one of you for stepping up and joining the fight.

Billions have been wiped off a previously healthy economy and millions of people are now out of work because of the lockdown. We also face a cancer, NHS waiting list and mental health crisis as a result of it.

It is for all these reasons and dozens more that lockdown simply cannot be allowed to happen again.

That is why we will continue this fight beyond the confines of the court room.

We started Keep Britain Free to protect the basic freedoms of everyone living in the UK and it has become one of the fastest growing pressure groups in the UK, with thousands of you joining together to fight creeping totalitarianism.

This first battle may have been lost, but the war has only just started.

With kind regards,

Simon.