A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic - Laura Dodsworth (the first e reader .txt) 📗

of death 150, 276

deaths from other causes 146

difficulties in counting 162–9

disconnection from 44–5, 244, 267

excess deaths 4, 5, 25, 157, 162, 163, 230, 232, 275

expectations of immortality 44–5, 162, 234

fear of 65, 162, 234, 244, 267

global death rates 3

inability to be with loved ones 168–9, 216, 225

as key metric 41, 115, 149

lethality of Covid 47–8

and lockdown 273–4

metrics 146–60

non-Covid excess deaths 48, 163, 167, 230, 232, 274

overestimated by public 4, 148

peak on 8th April 2020 11

predictions of 25

time lags in reporting 150, 276

what counts as a ‘Covid’ death 153

debate, curtailment of 30, 55–6, 70, 103, 181–2, 185, 256 see also censorship

debiasing 279

defaults 101

dehumanisation 53, 54, 91, 106, 144, 224, 267

democracy

accretion of power above democratic oversight 71

bypassing 222

‘engineering of consent’ 43

and journalism 50

moral authority 241

and moral duty 227–8

and performative safety 47

and propaganda 42, 56

and the right to assemble 82

use of fear is anti-democratic 242–4

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 72

depth psychology 44

Derbyshire police 220

desensitisation 199–200

deviants 101, 106, 114

devil shift 183, 191–2

DHSC Collaborate 60

Dick, Cressida 114

digital ID 206, 210, 224

Dingwall, Robert 84–5, 113, 247, 248, 254–5

Dinou, Marie 221

disaster capitalism 207, 213, 242, 248

disaster recovery specialists 63, 75, 117, 126, 136, 163, 236

discharges from hospital, not reported 29, 115

disease vectors, everyone seen as 4, 51, 53

disinformation 63, 72, 181, 191, 203

disproportionality 9, 70, 85, 183, 221, 223, 225

dissent, disapproval of 85–6, 184–6, 198, 202, 204, 256

‘do no harm’ 241

doctors

death certifications 164

as government advisors 85

Medical Examiner systems 163–4

Dolan, Simon 225

domestic abuse 141, 142, 163, 167, 232–3

‘doom-mongering’ 21, 23, 25, 98, 117–20

dopamine hits 281

dots on the ground 15, 114, 144, 258

Downing Street briefings 26, 105 see also Fright Night

drones 224

dystopia 66, 70, 78, 95, 118, 260, 265

EAST (Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely) 100, 260

Easthope, Lucy 117, 126, 136, 163, 167–8, 190–1, 236–7, 254, 256

Ebola 162, 254

economic impacts

collateral damage 239

cost-benefit analysis 70, 147–8, 150–1, 183, 219, 239, 260, 272

economic recovery 112

fines 222

as the goal/cover 206, 207, 209–10

‘Great Reset’ 211–12

on health 123

inequality 207, 209

not forecast for second lockdown 149

printing money 209, 210

rationality 202

statistics 233

Sweden 209

Edelman’s Trust 26

Edmunds, John 175

education see schools

educational psychology 91–2, 261

Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers 113

ego 102, 105, 122

Ellwood, Tobias 73, 173

emergency legislation 52, 53, 70, 82, 162, 218–28

End of Days 18

enemies, identification of 39–40, 41, 47, 48

‘engineering of consent’ 43

enjoyment of fear 70–1

environment 78–9

ethics

journalistic ethics 25–6

medical ethics 132

nudging 100, 103–4

propaganda 56

use of behavioural psychology 62–3, 81, 84, 103–4, 113, 185, 186, 217, 238, 259–62, 265

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) 112

European Convention of Human Rights 82

Evening Standard 32

evidence-based decision-making 68–9, 111, 112, 260

evidence-based medicine 111, 159

evidence-based pandemic planning and preparedness 253–5

evolutionary purpose of fear 2–3, 8–9, 94

excess deaths 4, 5, 25, 157, 162, 163, 230, 232, 275

existential crisis 84, 93, 103

exit plans 93, 237

expert panels 256 see also specific bodies

extremism 46, 128, 138

face coverings see masks

Facebook 17, 191, 224

facial recognition 224

fact-checking 18, 19, 24, 130, 132–3, 181, 252–3

Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine uptake among minority ethnic groups 128–9

‘facts’ 84, 85

Fagan, Patrick 103, 104, 106, 108, 239, 252, 258, 279–81

‘fake news’ 72

‘false’ information 191 see also disinformation; misinformation

false positives 158–9

Fancourt, Daisy 86–7, 129

father images 44

Fauci, Dr 51, 112

fear porn 18

Ferguson, Neil 87, 151, 152, 174, 188, 266, 272, 273

fight/flight/freeze 8, 13

financial interests 90–1, 128, 212

fines 82–3, 109–10, 143, 200, 222, 264

First Literature Review: Lockdowns Only Had a Small Effect on COVID-19 277

fixed penalty notices 109–10, 222

‘flatten the curve’ 11, 48, 49, 110, 244

flattery 60

flu 9, 157, 271, 272

Flynn, Ged 167

‘foot in the door’ 110–11

Fowler, Norman 98, 100

Fox, Claire 60–1, 243

framing 40, 184

Frawley, Ashley 103, 118, 242

free speech 30, 56, 72, 182

Free Speech Union 30

freedom apps 54, 206

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests 125, 192, 202

freedoms see liberty

freeze response 8

Freud, Sigmund 42, 244

Fright Night 7–13, 104–5, 199, 208, 263

Fullfact 133

fundamental attribution error 102

funding 90–1, 128, 129, 188, 212

funerals 53, 168–9

Furedi, Frank 251

‘gasping for air’ imagery 66

Gates Foundation 212

GAVI (The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations) 40–1, 247

GCHQ 63, 72–3

Germany 40, 52, 66–7

goalposts, moving 48

‘going viral’ 21

Golding, William 122

good cop, bad cop 116

Good Morning Britain 27

Google 191

Gove, Michael 250

government-media-public relationship 27–8, 109, 256

‘granny killing’ 54, 86–7, 106, 107

graphs 115

Grappenhall conga 172

grassroots organisations 71, 94–5, 99–100, 120, 123–4, 127

Great Barrington Declaration 191

‘Great Reset’ 211–12

‘greater good’ 84, 90, 223, 235, 267

Greenhorn, Dave 240

grief 87, 126, 229

Gript 65

Grose, Anouchka 174–5

groupthink 26, 55, 83–4, 85, 90

Grupp, Stefanie 255

Guantanamo 51

Guardian, The 71, 126, 156, 174–5, 191–2, 263 headlines 31, 33, 34, 35

Guatemala 42–3

guidance versus regulation 219–21, 225

Guido Fawkes 28

guilt 120, 198, 216

Gupta, Sunetra 182

H1N1 162

Halpern, David 20, 59, 61, 63, 104, 109, 111, 114, 237, 259, 260, 262

Hancock, Matt 24, 48, 53–4, 68, 111, 112–13, 115, 116, 117, 153, 248, 249

Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood) 110

‘hands, face, space’ 49, 101

hand-sanitising as symbol 180

hashtags 126, 127

headlines 18, 23, 25, 31–6

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 109–10, 219

health risk communication 236

Heneghan, Carl 159, 182, 191

herd immunity 20–1

heroes 105–8, 199

Higgs, Robert 45, 128

history of uses of fear to control populations 41–56

Hitchens, Peter 197, 249

Hoar, Francis 225–6, 227

Holden, Amanda 137

Home Office 163 see also RICU (Research, Information and Communications Unit)

homelessness 232

hope 90, 95, 235, 264

horror film references 18, 118, 120

hospices 165

hospitality 68–9

hospitals see also NHS

counting hospitalisations 149, 154–6

discharges not reported 29, 115

hospital admissions statistics 29

hospital-acquired infections 115

ICU beds 154

nosocomial infections 115, 150, 155, 192–3, 200, 273

‘overwhelmed’ 155

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee 159, 173, 259–60

House of Lords 61

How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, not Engaged Argument 19–20

Hoyle, Lindsay 79

Huddy, Leonie 257

hugging 4, 39, 40, 171, 225, 264

human rights 49, 53, 82, 225–6, 267, 271

Hunter, Paul 175

hyper-partisan politics 69

hypocrites 28

iatrocracy 85

ICU beds 154

imagery 105, 108

immortality, expectations of 44–5

immune responses 28–9, 235, 239

Imperial College London 84, 151–2, 268, 271, 273, 276

imprinting 12

Improving people’s health 60

incentives/rewards 101, 107, 202, 243

Independence Day 107, 173–4

Independent, The 32, 173

Independent SAGE 86

independent science 188

individual action 257–8

inequality 207, 209

infantilisation 114, 198, 243

Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) 47–8, 268–9

infectiousness 51–2, 53

influencers 87, 129, 203

information see also censorship; propaganda

challenging the 85

disinformation 63, 72, 181, 191, 203

fact-checking 18, 19, 24, 130, 132–3, 181, 252–3

‘facts’ 84, 85

‘false’ information 191

misinformation 19–20, 29–30, 154, 186

overload 281

placebic information 116

verification 18, 21, 24,