Lockdown is nothing new. We've been kept off the land for centuries | George Monbiot

When the coronavirus crisis ends, let's demand a right to roam in cities, the countryside and on golf coursesIn the name of freedom, we have been exposed, to a greater extent than any other European nation, to a deadly pandemic. In his speech in Greenwich on 3 February, Boris Johnson lambasted governments that had "panicked" about the coronavirus, inflicting "unnecessary economic damage". His government, by contrast, would champion our right to "buy and sell freely among each other".But as always, the professed love of freedom among those who represent the interests of the rich in politics is highly selective. If the government valued freedom as much as it says it does, it would do everything in its power to maximise the liberties we can safely exercise, while protecting us from harm. Continue reading...