My legal challenge may have failed, but I'll keep fighting so lockdown can never be allowed to happen again

The growing excitement around lockdown relaxing may seem like a collective sigh of relief, but if you look closely, the latest rules imposed by our leaders are some of the most worrying to date

In March, the government imposed the most draconian set of rules on British citizens that this country has ever known. Our rights and freedoms were stripped away in plain daylight, without parliamentary scrutiny, and without so much as a thought for ordinary people, their way of life, and their livelihoods.

I woke up yesterday morning quietly optimistic that the government would finally be held accountable for the blood on its hands, and that my judicial review would be a first step towards justice. But I have been bitterly disappointed, once again.

Following last week’s preliminary hearing, permission to launch a formal legal challenge to lockdown has been refused. According to the opinion of the judge considering the case, lockdown was entirely correct and proportionate. This means that in future, governments will have the right to impose a lockdown whenever they choose – and in doing so remove the livelihoods of millions – without having to legally justify its actions.

The power to do so rests with a minister – in this case the health secretary Matt Hancock – and “other public bodies”, who have the right to take away our freedoms without being properly held to account by parliament or the judiciary.

This isn’t the Great Britain we all know.

What is most disappointing, given what is at stake, is that judgement does not engage with, or consider on any analytical level, the vital issues we set out in the case in hundreds of pages of documentation submitted as evidence to the court. Nor does it consider the impact all this has had on ordinary people. The way in which our ordinary rights and freedoms have been dismissed is shocking, and my barristers are currently analysing the full judgment with view to an appeal.

But while this is a very disappointing final decision, we did score some vital victories along the way, embarrassing a failing government. The judge concluded that there is an arguable case against restrictions imposed on communal prayers at mosques and Roman Catholic churches, which may be an interference with the freedom of religion. That issue is to be the subject of full hearing at a later date.

We also fought for minutes of the SAGE advisory committee to be published and the government caved in, releasing huge batches of information on the scientific and health issues discussed up until the beginning of May. The revelations gave people living under lockdown rightful access to information which had been held behind closed doors yet was key in stripping away their freedoms. The reluctantly released SAGE minutes highlighted that scientists accept the virus does not pose a threat to children and that closing schools has minimal impact on the spread, again exposing the mockery of the government’s position.

Our pressure also exposed the trick of words the government used to close schools for millions of children for months on end. The judge held in his judgment that there is “no legal requirement on any school in England to closed”. Yet millions of pupils – the vast majority of them – have had no proper access to education since March, and still don’t. The court has refused to let our challenge to this sorry state of affairs proceed.

More than anything, this legal action has given a voice to those who have had freedoms stripped away with no democratic process.

I wanted to launch the legal action because it was terrifyingly obvious the government needed to be challenged. Parliament has been a bystander throughout this process, while ministers have repeatedly signed legislation into law without scrutiny, debate or votes by MPs until weeks after the event.

This legal campaign is not only mine but that of the 6,500 people who donated more than £200,000 to crowdfund the action. Many of those supporters have shared the devastating personal effect lockdown had and will continue to have on their lives. Billions have been wiped off a previously healthy economy and millions of people are now out of work because of the lockdown. We also face a cancer, NHS waiting list and mental health crisis as a result of it.

It is for all these reasons and dozens more that lockdown simply cannot be allowed to happen again – and that is why I have promised to continue this fight beyond the confines of the court room.

The growing excitement around lockdown relaxing may seem like a collective sigh of relief, but if you look closely, the latest rules imposed by our leaders are some of the most worrying to date.

Pubs are open, but you may soon need to register before enjoying a pint, and some pubs have been forced to close just days after opening. You can now get married, but you can’t kiss the bride. These policies echo life under a dictatorship.

And what of local lockdowns? Poor Leicester had just 44 new cases in the last day, but is being treated as a cautionary tale for the rest of the country – a tactical move, warning us not to go wild.

Enough is enough. The “Keep Britain Free” campaign, a new movement representing the millions of people who believe in personal freedom, is already becoming the fastest growing pressure group in the UK, with more than 5,000 new members joining together to bring about real change.

We want to bring politicians to account – not just on polling day, but every day – and we want to think for ourselves and take back the responsibility for our own lives.

Simon Dolan in a business leader based in Monaco.