Shamima Begum has shown up courts’ deference to this government. It’s a worrying new era

‘We see a lack of any moral urgency in relation to the alleged breaches of Shamima Begum’s core human rights.’ Photograph: The Shamima Begum Story/BBC/PA

Are the courts reverting to type? Until quite recently, it was widely assumed that the last people to look to for protection from the state were the judges. The Irish knew this, so too did union officials, leftwing campaigners and civil libertarian activists. Progress on racial and gender equality was achieved despite judges, not because of them.

Then along came the 1998 Human Rights Act and the flourishing of a new generation of abrasively liberal judges, men and women not afraid to impose their will on the executive where the law demanded it, undaunted by “enemy of the people” jibes. The Human Rights Act survives in law, it is true – but what of its spirit?