One of the reasons I haven't been active on Hive recently is that I've been so appalled by governments using the coronavirus crisis to clamp down on freedoms and introduce new restrictions, I've been focusing all my energies on a new podcast called Imagining Freedom. I also have a new Hive account under that name.

I was planning to launch it anyway, as the clamping down on freedoms has been increasing for years, but this recent crisis made it more urgent. When I heard that the German government had made face masks mandatory for going outside I just about freaked out. I visited Iran in 1995, and the rule that all women had to wear head coverings seemed a crazy example of tyranny. I've nothing against the hijab or the burqa for women who want to wear them, and I have two friends who wear the hijab. But to impose any kind of face covering by law is wrong in my opinion. I never thought I'd see the day when this would be happening in European countries. A horrible precedent. I'm all for having sensible measures to restrict the spread of a virus, but crashing the economy and bringing in a police state is way too extreme.