A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic
Page 34
behavioural psychology 63
government-media-public relationship 27–8
pandemic as excuse to grab 90
and propaganda 42
power of three 106
PPE (personal protective equipment) 113–14, 163, 168–9, 193, 254
precautionary principle 9, 151, 251
pre-set options 101
Press Gazette 26
presumed infectious 51–2, 53
Prevent 45–6, 63
priming 13, 101, 111, 114, 280
printing money 209, 210
prison terminology 53
privacy 224 see also surveillance
‘project fear’ 41
projection 213
propaganda
biased information as 30
Clap for Carers 122–5
and cults 197
disguised as ‘influence’ 129
government use of 41–2, 43, 55–6, 64, 65, 94–5, 116–17, 128–30
London Bridge terror attacks (2017) 126
mass media 27
outsourced to agencies 127
social media 20, 139
suppression of dissent 204
unconscious forces 244
vaccines 87, 245–6
prophecies, failed 200
proportionality 61–2, 70, 219, 260
Propublica 20
prosecutions 221
‘protect the NHS’ 100, 105
protest, right to 49–51, 54, 82, 173, 222, 257–8, 267 see also anti-lockdown protests
psychic epidemics 214–15
psychoanalysis 42
psychocracy 70–5, 254, 262
psychological abuse 117, 141
psychological warfare 73, 116
psychotherapy 214
psyops 19, 43, 73, 126, 147
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee 109, 262
public consultation 62
Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 205, 218, 219, 226
Public Health England 29, 52, 59, 130, 132, 157, 163, 246–7, 262
public health policy 29–30
public opinion polls 149, 249
Publich 152–3
pubs 68–9, 106–7, 173–4, 247
punishments 82–3, 101, 109–10, 243 see also fines
QALYs (Quality Adjusted Life Years) 150–1, 219, 274
quarantining the healthy 49, 202, 218, 272
questioning the established narrative, dangers of 184–6
R number 48, 146–7, 175
Raab, Dominic 49
race 134–5, 136, 221
radicalisation 46, 128, 138
‘radicals’ 64
Radio 4 22, 25, 109
rainbows 94, 127, 180
‘rallying around the flag’ 44
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) 29, 111, 113, 271
Rapid Response Unit 63, 71–2, 73
ratchet effect 45, 128, 254
rationality 47, 54, 58, 62, 68, 83, 104, 244, 252, 279, 280
Ray, Adil 128–9, 130, 135–6
Reachwell 184
reality principle 42
rebels 85, 112
recoveries, unreported 5, 23, 26, 29, 76, 115, 146
Recovery 120
recovery, inhibited by fear 236–7
red, use of 108, 118, 264
red team challenges 256
Rees-Mogg, Jacob 181
Reicher, Stephen 109, 137, 262
relative risk 90, 98
released deliberately, virus could be 206
religion 179–80, 197, 234
repetition 106
resilience, staged 126
Reuters 24
rewards 101, 107, 202, 243
RICU (Research, Information and Communications Unit) 63, 71, 126, 127, 131, 138
right-wing politics 90, 183, 192
riots 82, 127, 208
risk
being a risk (not just at risk) 118
overestimated by public 105
perceptions of 46, 105, 242, 267
psychology of 75
relative risk 90, 98
risk aversion on advisory panels 248
risk management expertise on SAGE 75
transparency 91
vaccines 136, 245
‘roadmap’ 237
Robinson, Calvin 134
Robinson, Piers 55–6
Role of Community Champions networks (SPI-B, 2020) 87–8, 129
Roosevelt, Frankin D. 264
Royal Society 110–11
rules
adherence to 81, 86, 114, 148, 199, 200, 219–21
breaking 40, 52, 114, 148
lack of understanding about 119
Rwandan genocide 106
safetyism (pursuit of safety) 70, 93, 105, 251, 267
SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) 63, 68–9, 74–5, 78, 81, 175, 192, 212, 272–3
salience 101, 105–6, 115
Santa ad 119
Sargant, William 43, 122, 197, 242
SARS 162
‘save the NHS’ 127
scapegoating 106, 176, 179–93
‘scariants’ 48, 264
schools
closure of 175–6, 219, 225, 272
masks in 91–3
mass testing 159, 176
mental health 91
re-opening of 64, 91, 174, 237
right to education 49, 219
testing programmes 93
Schwab, Klaus 211
science
censorship 55–6
challenging the 85
‘following the’ 67, 68–9, 75, 116, 144
funding 90–1, 188
groupthink 90
interface with politics 67, 81–2, 89–91, 256
narrow basis of 85
scientists’ own fears 90–1
unelected advisory groups 70
Science and Technology Committee 61, 159, 173, 259–60
Scotland 112
Scotsman, The 33
Scottish Independence referendum 41
Scottish Sun, The 34
Scruton, Roger 227–8
seasonality 152, 154, 200, 264
second waves 48, 157, 192
security, sense of 70, 93
‘seeding’ 19, 49, 110–11
‘selfishness’ 54, 106, 107, 173, 176
self-isolation 52, 83, 142–4, 148–9
semiotics 105, 108, 111, 118
Senger, Michael P. 20
sensationalisation 119
sentiment analysis 224
separation from each other 258 see also lockdown; self-isolation; social distancing
sepsis 157
shadows 213–15
Shah, Neil 10–11, 12
shame 8, 114, 120, 144, 181, 198
shielding 14
‘shock and awe’ tactics 66, 147, 156
Shotton, Richard 103, 114–15, 131, 137
Sidley, Gary 60, 62, 103, 185, 186, 246
signage 3, 15, 105, 108, 114, 264
see also posters
signals 111–12, 137
Sikora, Karl 191
simulation models 271, 272, 273
Singer, Margaret Thaler 198
Sky News 24, 34, 35, 36, 76, 108, 135
slogans 105–8
‘slow the spread’ 48
Snapchat 17
Snopes 19
social cohesion 177
social contagion 252
social credit 89, 206
social distancing 40, 173, 220
social media
77th Brigade 73
behavioural science 64
bots 74, 138, 139, 252, 256
censorship 186–7, 191
data analytics 253
dissenting views on 203
fake posts 19–20
first appearances of Covid on 17
government-media-public relationship 256
hashtags 126, 127
and mental wellb
eing 255
propaganda 19–20
Rapid Response Unit 71–2
reducing use of 257, 281
sensationalisation 119
and shallow thinking 252
and SPI-B 82
trolls 74, 139, 252, 256
vaccine promotion 137
social proof 103–4
social unrest 82 see also riots
solidarity 68, 86, 92, 112, 144
Spectator, The 191, 274
Spector, Tim 263
SPI-B (Scientific Pandemic
Influenza Group on Behaviour) 63, 65, 74–5, 78–95, 109, 246, 260–1
Spiegelhalter, David 29
SPI-M (Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling) 74, 152
Starmer, Keir 193
statistical models 84, 151–2, 271, 272, 273
statistics 115, 146–60
Statistics Authority, UK 156
‘Stay Alert’ 105–6
Stevens, Simon 115, 154, 156
Stockholm syndrome 271
Stott, Clifford 78, 79–80, 81, 82, 84, 93
stress responses 232, 235
strong man politics 223
Stunt Covid videos 19, 199, 252–3
suicide 140, 167–8, 181–2, 184, 194, 229, 231, 239
SumOfUs 138–9
Sumption, Lord 218–20, 226–7
Sun, The 17, 18, 21, 25, 247 headlines 31, 33, 34, 36
Sunak, Rishi 29
Sunday Times, The 273
sunk cost fallacy 277
Sunstein, Cass 58–9, 258
Super Saturday 173–4
supermarkets 114
super-spreader events 172–6
surveillance 45–6, 47, 188, 192, 224, 267
surveillance stacking 224
Sweden 208, 275–6
symbolism 105, 113, 114, 264
Tablet, The 20
taboos 123
talismans 180
Talk Radio 25
technocracy 70, 85, 212
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 112, 158
Telegraph 23, 32, 34, 151
temperature-taking 224–5
Terence Higgins Trust 99–100
terrorism 39–40, 45–7, 55, 126
Terrorism Act 2000 46
testing programmes
false positives 155
LFT testing programmes (lateral flow tests) 93, 159, 176, 272
mass testing 93, 159
PCR test 52–3, 158–9, 272
Test and Trace 87–8, 93, 148–9
thermal scanning 224
third wave 48, 152
threats
and Biderman’s Chart of
Coercion 143
elevated through advertising 117
existential threats 84
in government material 12, 243
invasive testing feels like a 93
‘killing grannies’ 86
and masks 113
perceptions of 47, 98
personal threat perception 104–5, 146
unequal 90
Thurber, James 214–15
tier restrictions 155
Tiktok 17, 19
Times, The 52, 72
Toronto Star 65
torture 46, 51, 117, 141, 223
totalitarianism 41–56, 70, 94, 198, 261
Townsend, Ellen 107, 184–5, 193
Track and Trace 87–8, 93, 148–9
trade-offs, measuring 148 see also
cost-benefit analysis
transparency 90, 91, 93, 267
tribalism 68, 183–4
trolls 74, 139, 252, 256
Trump, Donald 40
Twitter
77th Brigade 73
campaigns 139, 256
dissenters denounced on 181–2
fake accounts 20
first appearance of Covid on 17
lack of scientific debate on 185
misinformation 154
Online Harms Bill 138
Piers Morgan 27
and shallow thinking 252
vaccine information 134
tyranny 218–28
Ullum, Henrik 188–90
uncertainty 90, 116, 117, 201
unconscious forces 213–15, 244
Unherd 113–14, 191
universities 174, 188
University College London (UCL) 86
Urban Dictionary 106
US 44, 45, 137, 188, 240
U-turns 92–3, 116
vaccine certification 53–4, 111, 206, 210, 247–8, 249–50
vaccine hesitancy 184, 245
vaccines
anti-vaccine information 72–3, 87, 135, 138, 184
behavioural science 87, 88
bodily sovereignty 53
celebrity promotion 137
encouraging take-up in ethnic minorities 128–9
fact-checking 133–4
informed consent 132
and the language of coercive control 245–50
mandating of 53–4, 248–9
propaganda 128–32
and the ‘return to normality’ 48, 132
safety studies 87, 132
scepticism about 184, 245
side effects 133, 135
Yellow Card data 133
Vallance, Patrick 3, 25, 99, 147, 156, 212
variants 48, 116–17, 175
VE Day 172
verification 18, 21, 24, 255–6
video calling 83
videos 17–19, 72, 128–9, 130–7
Vine, Jeremy 48
viral fear 21
virtuous self-image 102
voter support 67–8
Wagner, Adam 223, 226
Wales 112
Wales Online 35
war analogies 40–1, 104
‘war on terror’ 39–40, 47, 55, 128
Ward, Sean 203–4
wartime language 12
Watson, John 206
Weibo 19
‘wellbeing’ frameworks 265
Wellcome Trust 212
Wenhong Xhang 154
Weregild/blood money 109, 222
Weston, Bruce 73
When Prophecy Fails 200–1
whistleblowers 125, 131, 202
Whitty, Chris 25, 112, 147, 156, 173, 239, 274
WHO (World Health Organization) fatality rates 269 lockdown 21, 163, 272, 275 on masks 112 official guidance 72 testing programmes 158 vaccines 247
Winter Willow 162
Wittkowski, Knut 186–8
Wojcicki, Susan 186
Wood, Simon 274, 276
Woolhouse, Mark 173
Wootton, Dan 25
World Economic Forum (WEF) 211–12, 247
worship 49, 173–4
wrongful conviction 220–1
Wuhan 21, 206
Xi Jinping 20
yellow and black signage 105, 108, 118, 264
Yonder 120
Yorkshire Evening Post 34
YouGov 79–80, 249
YouTube 72, 181, 186–7, 191
Zahawi, Nadhim 111
zero Covid 48
Zinc Network 138, 139
zombie references 18
zoos 193