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Here's the thing about courts: the problem is not that they're being kept open. The problem is that @HMCTSgovuk @RobertBuckland et al keep telling us that they are staying open because they are safe.
They aren't. Stop saying that they are. We aren't idiots.
They aren't. Stop saying that they are. We aren't idiots.
2.
The courts are essential. That's not the same thing as safe.
No matter how bad the pandemic gets, some things will have to stay open. People need food. People need power, medical assistance, police and so on.
You can't just shut everything. Some things must remain open.
The courts are essential. That's not the same thing as safe.
No matter how bad the pandemic gets, some things will have to stay open. People need food. People need power, medical assistance, police and so on.
You can't just shut everything. Some things must remain open.
3.
For any given service, government has to decide whether the risk to those running and working in it outweighs the societal cost of closing it.
That is an inevitable consequence of the pandemic.
For any given service, government has to decide whether the risk to those running and working in it outweighs the societal cost of closing it.
That is an inevitable consequence of the pandemic.
4.
Some services the answer will be clear-cut. Others it will not be.
Where it is not, the government has to make a judgement. That's what the government is for.
We can debate forever whether we agree with the decision for a given service but it's government's job to make it.
Some services the answer will be clear-cut. Others it will not be.
Where it is not, the government has to make a judgement. That's what the government is for.
We can debate forever whether we agree with the decision for a given service but it's government's job to make it.
5.
Government should, however, make the decision on proper grounds and be honest about it. That's where the decision about keeping courts open falls down.
The claim that the courts are "safe" or "covid secure" is obviously, undeniably, laughably false.
Government should, however, make the decision on proper grounds and be honest about it. That's where the decision about keeping courts open falls down.
The claim that the courts are "safe" or "covid secure" is obviously, undeniably, laughably false.
6.
If government has made the decision to keep courts open based on the premise that the courts are "covid secure" or "safe" then it is a decision based on a false premise and needs to be revisited.
If government has made the decision to keep courts open based on the premise that the courts are "covid secure" or "safe" then it is a decision based on a false premise and needs to be revisited.
7.
If the courts are being kept open because they are considered sufficiently important that their opening trumps the welfare of those going there and their families then that's a valid decision.
We can all disagree with it, but it's a valid decision.
If the courts are being kept open because they are considered sufficiently important that their opening trumps the welfare of those going there and their families then that's a valid decision.
We can all disagree with it, but it's a valid decision.
8.
But if that really is the reasoning then could somebody behind the decision please have the courage and the manners to say to us "yes, we accept that the courts are not, and cannot be, safe. But they are essential, so sorry but crack on"?
But if that really is the reasoning then could somebody behind the decision please have the courage and the manners to say to us "yes, we accept that the courts are not, and cannot be, safe. But they are essential, so sorry but crack on"?
9.
It is ok to make a policy decision that weighs real danger to us against the essential service that courts provide and decides therefore to keep them open.
But please stop telling us that courts are safe. They aren't. They are simply essential.
It is ok to make a policy decision that weighs real danger to us against the essential service that courts provide and decides therefore to keep them open.
But please stop telling us that courts are safe. They aren't. They are simply essential.
