Coronavirus Bill: CAGE Briefing Paper

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This briefing paper outlines how the government’s proposed CV Bill will give the state far-reaching powers to dismantle the fundamental rights of individuals and communities.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">While decisive action is essential to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, such an approach means that the Bill also poses a long term threat to the social fabric of the UK.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Extra powers must be subject to strict and effective oversight and must end within a reasonable time around the end of the pandemic.</span> <strong>CAGE raises the following concerns about the Bill: </strong> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It allows the state to detain, isolate, assess and force disclosures about infections from individuals – as well as making non-compliance an offence;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It consists of vague terms around the banning of events, gatherings and meetings, which can be easily extended to outlaw protests, shut down political activism, and undermine freedom of association;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 allow for easier detention and medication-without-consent of individuals, an alarming development in the context of the high rate of deaths in mental health detention.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most alarmingly, the Bill includes clauses that allows it to be extended, modified and effectively made permanent in the future.</span></li> </ul> &nbsp; [fusion_button link="https://www.cage.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/032020_CAGE_CoronavirusBill_Briefing_FINAL.pdf" title="" target="_blank" link_attributes="" alignment="center" modal="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" color="default" button_gradient_top_color="" button_gradient_bottom_color="" button_gradient_top_color_hover="" button_gradient_bottom_color_hover="" accent_color="" accent_hover_color="" type="" bevel_color="" border_width="" size="large" stretch="no" shape="" icon="" icon_position="left" icon_divider="no" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset=""]Download the paper here[/fusion_button] &nbsp; <h3>View online:</h3> <p style="text-align: center;">[pdf-embedder url="https://www.cage.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/032020_CAGE_CoronavirusBill_Briefing_FINAL.pdf"]</p>