FIRST CORONA TYRANNY. NOW CORONATION TYRANNY.

Three years ago, on the basis of excessively pessimistic epidemic models, Great Britain ordered everyone into house arrest and eased up on the restrictions only slowly.

Yesterday, the British staged a coronation, and fealty was the order of the day.

Human Rights Watch's UK director Yasmine Ahmed said in a statement: "The reports of people being arrested for peacefully protesting the coronation are incredibly alarming. This is something you would expect to see in Moscow not London.

"Peaceful protests allow individuals to hold those in power to account, something the UK government seems increasingly averse to.”

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: “We need to see what details emerge around these incidents but merely being in possession of a megaphone or carrying placards should never be grounds for a police arrest.

“Peaceful protest is clearly protected under international human rights law and it’s been worrying to see the police this week making numerous statements about their ‘low tolerance’ for disruption at the coronation. The coronation shouldn’t become yet another excuse for undermining people’s basic human rights in this country and we’re awaiting more details over these concerning reports of arrests.”

“We’ve recently had the introduction of extremely draconian legislation outlawing ‘disruptive’ or ‘noisy’ protests, which has given the police excessive – and highly subjective – powers and seriously damaged people’s right of free speech and public assembly.

“The coronation shouldn’t become yet another excuse for undermining people’s basic human rights in this country.”

That "yet another excuse" is a brilliant touch, isn't it?

The people carrying placards intended to be in the moment at Trafalgar Square.  Nobody intended to carry a sign, a bullhorn, or a copy of the Declaration of the Rights of Man into Westminster Abbey.