The text of this chapter is the Blackstone Lecture I delivered at Pembroke College, Oxford on 21 January 2021. I am delighted to dedicate the lecture to John Eekelaar. The topic of the lecture aligns with John’s strong commitment to issues of family justice; and it is a particular pleasure to be able to dedicate a Blackstone Lecture to John, since in his time at Pembroke, he played a considerable role in the organisation and publication of the Blackstone Lectures.

The Blackstone Lecture 2021: ‘Justice in a Crisis’

On 5 January 2021, as the UK Government began to further develop lockdown restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nuffield IFS Review of Inequalities chaired by the Nobel laureate Sir Angus Deaton produced a report as part of its review. Its message was stark:

The key findings were described as follows:

As Sir Angus commented:

The language of exclusion is worthy of note, given the political realities that have faced Western States since the financial crisis of 2008. At the inception of his review in 2018, Sir Angus raised the possibility that inequalities may prove a threat to our economic, social and political systems, unless they are tackled effectively. The evidence cited of differentially increasing mortality as one of the consequences of increasing inequality, and its exacerbated effect during this crisis, should be a clear warning to us of the seriousness of the political considerations that have arisen, and which may persist. Sir Angus added that, ‘[c]atastrophes can create space for reforms previously hard to imagine; they can also turn impossibilities into imperatives’. Only two days later, there were scenes at the heart of government in the United States that must concern any constitutional democracy.