There were good-faith reasons to resort to extraordinary measures when confronting an unknown global pandemic. Most of us consented to the lockdown, even if reluctantly. However, that consent - freely given as an act of social solidarity - was not intended as a green light to giving up hard-won liberties, or a perpetual suspension of free society.
Claire Fox
One of the great things about journalism, at its best I mean, is its forensic, investigative truth seeking instincts.
Retreating to indefinite lockdown culture would mean surrendering what makes life worth living, a far more tragic cost than anything inflicted by a virus.
European civil society and NGOs that petition for favours and influence for their special interests are often themselves funded from E.U. coffers. This creates a system of patronage that encourages self-reinforcing group-think and a cloying sycophancy.
We already know that the experience of lockdown is a mixed bag. It is increasingly recognised that for many it can be hellish. Enforced leisure - if you are crippled with worry about debts, insecure job prospects, your family's health - is no holiday.
I have fought for open immigration which is something I disagree with Nigel Farage on.
Yes, we know that obesity is an issue, but it isn't the end of the world as is reported everywhere.
I am rather proud of my modest contribution to bringing democracy home.
Welsh voices and Welsh communities were heard in 2016 in their tens of thousands, in their droves. They voted to leave the European Union and since then they have had that slapped in their face actually often by Labour MPs who basically said we know better than you.
If you feel you're being condescended to and not taken seriously in the discussion, that can make people feel defensive.
I continue to take inspiration from John Locke, John Stuart Mill and those more recent freedom fighters of the 1960s who challenged conformism and repression.
The truth is the Tories don't own Brexit. No party owns Brexit and that includes the Brexit Party.
I am generally enthusiastic about cities. Here in the West there is a panic. Every time we have a debate about cities, we talk about the problems of cities.
Theresa May, a Remainer, assumed that all of the Brexit voters are racist, thinks we will use this to kick British citizens out of the country; it is despicable.
Brexit has acted as a catalyst encouraging more people to think and vote outside of traditional party loyalties.
One of the great tragedies of Brexit has been that despite the fact there was an unprecedented public vote for change, Brexit was almost hijacked, owned, and controlled by a technocratic establishment.
Some who campaign against hate, seem to hate the Brexit party more than they love peace.
Sometimes, we just take too much glee in the downfall of people in power.
What I have always thought is that there should be a proper national conversation about what kind of immigration policies we have.
If a boy pings a girl's bra it may be unpleasant and annoying, but is it really assault?
TV and radio debates seem inflamed, with all that shouting, but real disagreement is always avoided; they conceal their lack of content.
I think the influence of contemporary feminism has been very unhelpful to the current generation of girls. They are constantly being encouraged to speak out about how they feel victimised.
I've been inspired by the rank and file groups of Leavers that have sprung up from Warrington to Watford and beyond, organising pro-Brexit gatherings and marches. I stand in solidarity with their democratic spirit and determination to fight.
You don't need to be a fan of wars or militarism to note that heroic action - whether being prepared to be jailed as a conscientious objector or putting your life on the line by joining the resistance - creates a sense of meaning when society faces a huge challenge.
Senior Tories have exhibited a brand of entitled arrogance that implies that they own Brexit. It seems that anyone else who claims its mantle can be pushed to one side. And that includes voters.
You see, Leavers desperately need a psychological win. We need to feel our vote for change can actually change things.
For me, normal means freedom to live life as we choose, from cramming into packed planes to go on holiday to crowding into pubs for birthday parties.
I've spent my whole life fighting for leftwing causes, so I can tell you, no one is more surprised than me to be standing as candidate for Nigel Farage's Brexit party.
I think there is some kind of disillusionment in the West about the gains of modernity and of economic growth and it takes a form of skepticism about the gains of prosperity generally.
Are Labour members inherently bigoted against women, unable to objectively assess political attributes beyond the gender prism? This accusation seems particularly ludicrous when levelled at a party so much in thrall to identity politics that it sometimes feels more like a student union than an organisation set up to defend the working class.
If the widespread attempts to block Brexit gave us a glimpse into how fragile our commitment to democracy had become - reduced to a technocratic in-name-only veneer - reactions to Covid are a stark reminder that freedom cannot be assumed as a social norm that's deeply embedded into our institutions and our psyche.
An ever-widening definition of abuse can incite a culture of fear and complaint: encouraging teachers and girls to name and shame could mean labelling sexually awkward teenage boys as sex pests.
I'm not Tory but I do happen to think that the Government should be allowed to govern.
Many white people sense that they are being blamed for the sins of white slave owners and imperialists merely through some lineage of ethnicity. Activists' constant stress on white privilege can lead to an unhealthy defensive posture of white victimhood.
Public discourse degenerated. There's no longer a place for intelligent debate at universities, where people just work for degrees and careers. My own experience was how my trade union's lively branch debates dwindled to a few people round cups of coffee. There's a climate of people frightened to say what they think for fear of offending someone.
Left to their own devices, the Tories will squash the life out of what Brexit really represents in terms of the chance to shake up political life and overturn a complacent status quo. We cannot let that happen.
Those who politically theorise the artificial concept of 'whiteness' infer that anyone who has white skin cannot escape their unconscious bias. If you object, you are accused of failing to come to terms with your white privilege.
There has been far too much of journalists deciding they are on the side of something and going out to get the story, instead of truth seeking which is a different thing.
I am standing in solidarity with decent Remain voters who respected the rules and accepted the result and are as appalled by Parliament's undemocratic antics as the most ardent Brexiteer.
My political views have never made me insensitive to the pain and suffering caused to the innocent victims of events such as the Warrington bomb.
The idea of a private life has been eroded in the sphere of politics.
I have no truck with the faintly conspiratorial argument that international governments are gleeful about a public-health emergency to enact authoritarian measures.
The notion that one's home is one's castle and you can pull up the drawbridge is not one that people in public policy circles believe in.
I can only look at what Labour has done to the NHS here in Wales and it's not a good story. That includes on education as well.
I joined the RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party) in the early '80s. I'd be in it still but it was wound up at the end of the nineties.
The first job of the Brexit Party is to make sure Brexit's delivered and if that involves electoral pacts, that might happen.
It has to be said that one of the most impressive aspects of the parliament are the brilliant unsung translators, who ensure that whatever language you speak, you are understood.
I do not condone the use of violence.
People conclude that if the famous can be dragged through the virtual public square and unceremoniously dumped, the fate of any random tweeter or the average man or woman on the street can seem even more precarious.
There's a palpable frustration with the assumption that everyone who's under the age of 25 has got the attention span of a gnat and isn't interested in events and ideas.
