Human rights, equality, free speech, privacy, the rule of law. These five ideas are vitally important to the way of life we enjoy today. The battle to establish them in law was long and difficult, and Lord Anthony Lester was at the heart of the 30-year campaign that resulted in the Human Rights Act as well as the struggle for race and gender equality that culminated in the Equality Act of 2010.

Today, however, our society is at risk of becoming less equal. From Snowden's revelations about our own intelligence agencies spying on us to the treatment of British Muslims, our civil liberties are under threat like never before. The Internet leaves our privacy at risk in myriad ways, our efforts to combat extremism curtail free speech, and cuts to legal aid and interference with access to justice endangers the rule of law.

A fierce argument for why we must act now to ensure the survival of the ideals which enable us to live freely, Five Ideas to Fight For is vital study on the state of freedom and the law in the world today.