2020 was a year in which civil liberties were suspended in the UK in an unprecedented fashion. The law became involved in micromanaging our behaviour like never before. Regulations introduced new criminal offences with almost no notice whatsoever. Most recently, Christmas was cancelled for millions of Britons at the stroke of a pen. The line between the citizen and the state has been trampled over.

The first Covid lockdown was announced on 23 March. Within two months, the Metropolitan Police had issued 973 Fixed Penalty Notices for breaches of Covid laws. Prosecutions for the new offences hit the headlines when Marie Dinou was prosecuted on an entirely false basis. Footage emerged of people being reprimanded for being in their own front gardens. By May, research found that black, Asian and ethnic-minority people were 54 per cent more likely to be fined than white people.

While some forces complained that enforcing the lockdown would be impossible, due to a lack of resources, other forces took to their new powers with aplomb. In April, Northamptonshire chief constable Nick Adderley said his forces had given the public a ‘three-week grace period’ to ‘understand what was expected of them’. He warned that police officers could start searching shopping trolleys to ensure that shoppers were not buying unnecessary items. Derbyshire police put out bizarre adverts featuring drone footage of dogwalkers in the Peak District, claiming that this amounted to ‘non-essential travel’. Public spaces like parks and walkways were closed at short notice, even though they represented essential outdoor areas for those who lacked gardens.