Closed Pubs, Boris Johnson, John Wilkes & the Freeborn Englishman
John Wilkes
Boris Johnson has ordered all pubs to close as a measure to try and control COVID-19 better.
In my view as an inveterate pub goer if it saves lives, and it very probably will, it will be worth it, particularly as the incomes of pub workers are, for many, now protected (more is needed for those on zero hours contracts such as a minimum basic income).
Of course civil libertarians (of which broadly I’m one) might say that it is the dream of all authoritarian Governments to try and do something like a closure of pubs. Indeed Foucault argued this has been the case since the Middle Ages.
On the other hand right-wing libertarian Brendan O’Neill claimed that Johnson’s action made Britain look like North Korea (Spectator)-which would still be preferable to any society O’Neill had a say in.
There is a problem though and it’s called Boris Johnson. It is tempting to think that Johnson is a charlatan who doesn’t believe in anything much except himself and that I think it’s true. Except that this means that one of his great heroes is a former Mayor of London, John Wilkes (1727-1795). He undoubtedly fitted the Johnsonian characteristics noted above but his slogan was ‘Wilkes and Liberty’ and it was far from being without substance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes
At the St Georges Fields Massacre on 10th May 1768 his followers protesting at the jailing of Wilkes raised the cry of No Liberty, No King. Troops opened fire killing seven and injuring fifteen
E P Thompson noted how Wilkes ideas led to Cobbett’s Freeborn Englishman
The champion defending his individual rights passed imperceptibly into the free-born citizen challenging King and Ministers and claiming rights for which there was no precedent
Johnson had other reasons for lionising Wilkes, he was a member of the Hellfire Club, but his support for the liberties of the Englishman was also key. This was echoed in his comments on 20th March about closing pubs. He had clearly been reluctant to do so and arguably delayed too long.
Fortunately ‘experts’ eventually prevailed.
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