SCRAP THE CORONAVIRUS ACT: CHARITY AND COMMUNITY COALITION JOINT STATEMENT

We, the undersigned, are calling for our elected MPs to scrap the Coronavirus Act now.

In times of crisis governments can either tap into public spirit and connect communities or increase state powers and use coercive methods that foster ill-will and blame.  Faced with this choice, the Government opted for a criminal justice response to a public health crisis, prioritising immigration control over saving lives, and rushing through an Act of Parliament that strips away our rights.

The Coronavirus Act hits already marginalised communities hardest. It weakens social care safeguards, leaving people without vital support. It removes protections for people experiencing mental health crises. It has created unworkable police powers that have been disproportionately used against people of colour. It threatens our fundamental right to protest.

And by leaving the racist hostile environment in place, the Government has abandoned survivors of domestic abuse, rough sleepers and migrants – a cruel decision which only serves to make everyone less safe.

The Coronavirus Act has no firm end date. Its sweeping powers continue to threaten many of our basic rights and could do so long beyond the current crisis. And yet Parliament has barely scrutinised it.

As MPs return in September, they will decide whether or not to maintain the greatest limitation on liberty in a generation. They must vote to scrap the Act and for the Government to instead focus on a response to the pandemic which protects everyone’s human rights and keeps civil liberties intact.

Liberty

Another Night of Sisterhood (ANOS)

Big Brother Watch

Black Lives Matter UK

Black Protest Legal Support UK (BPLS)

British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR)

Centre for Mental Health

INQUEST

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)

Justice

London Campaign Against Police and State Violence

Maslaha

Museum of Homelessness

National Survivor User Network

Netpol

Northern Police Monitoring Project (NPMP)

Release

Rights and Security International

Runnymede Trust

Streets Kitchen

StopWatch

The Traveller Movement