• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Dominic Cummings ‘attended meetings’ of key scientific group on Covid-19

The Prime Minister’s chief adviser is reported to have been attending the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2020-04-25 08:52
in Politics
credit:PA

credit:PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings has been taking part in meetings of the senior scientists advising the Government on the coronavirus outbreak, it has been reported.

Mr Cummings was among 23 attendees at a key meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) on March 23 – the day Mr Johnson announced the nationwide lockdown, according to the Guardian.

Ben Warner, a data scientist who worked with Mr Cummings on the Vote Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum, was also said to have been present.

A former government chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, said he was “shocked” to find that there were political advisers involved in Sage meetings.

Coronavirus
Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has said membership of Sage is not made public (Jonathan Brady/PA)

“If you are giving science advice, your advice should be free of any political bias. That is just so critically important,” he told the Guardian.

Sage meetings

In a strongly worded statement, a No 10 spokesman confirmed that Mr Cummings and Dr Warner had attended or listened in to Sage meetings, but denied they had in any way affected the group’s advice.

“Sage provides independent scientific advice to the Government. Political advisers have no role in this,” the spokesman said.

RelatedPosts

Boris Johnson described foreign secretary job as like being in a ‘steel condom’

FBI raid Donald Trump’s Florida home

Meet the Tory members who get to choose the next prime minister

Nicola Sturgeon calls for urgent meeting with PM over cost-of-living crisis

“The scientists on Sage are among the most eminent in their fields. It is factually wrong and damaging to sensible public debate to imply their advice is affected by government advisers listening to discussions.”

The spokesman said Mr Cummings and Dr Warner had been seeking to better understand the scientific debate around coronavirus, as well as the limits as to how science and data could assist Government decision-making.

“Occasionally they ask questions or offer help when scientists mention problems in Whitehall,” the spokesman said

The Government has never released a list of Sage members or attendees – although individual members can disclose they are part of the group.

In a letter to Parliament earlier this month, Sir Patrick Vallance, the current chief scientific adviser who chairs Sage, said the decision not to disclose its membership was based on advice from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI).

He said that it helped safeguard the personal security of members while protecting them from “lobbying and other forms of unwanted influence which may hinder their ability to give impartial advice”.

However, the chief medical officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty – who is also a member of the group, told MPs on Friday that neither he nor Sir Patrick had any objection “in principle” to details of the membership being released.

Giving evidence to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, he said the CPNI advice was based on the fact that Sage was a sub-committee of Cobra – the Government’s civil contingencies committee – and sometimes dealt with security-related issues.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the disclosure that Mr Cummings had been attending Sage raised “significant questions” about the credibility of Government decision-making.

“Dominic Cummings has no place on the Government’s scientific advisory group on the coronavirus,” he said.

“He is a political adviser, not a medical or scientific expert. If the public are to have confidence in the Sage, the Government must make clear Dominic Cummings can no longer participate or attend.

Sir Ed Davey

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the disclosure underlined the need for a public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the pandemic.

“The public needs to have confidence that it is expert advice that is guiding government decisions, not dubious political advisers. The lack of transparency is an absolute outrage,” he said.

“To get to the truth and to give Boris Johnson the opportunity to answer some serious questions, it is clear that there will need to be an independent inquiry to officially review the Government’s response to the pandemic.”

If it is true that Dominic Cummings attended meetings of SAGE, then the government led by Boris Johnson has utterly corrupted independent scientific advice; but I’m afraid to say that the scientists who sit on SAGE have allowed themselves to be corrupted, including the CSA/CMO.

— richard horton (@richardhorton1) April 24, 2020

Richard Horton, the editor of The Lancet, tweeted: “If it is true that Dominic Cummings attended meetings of Sage, then the Government led by Boris Johnson has utterly corrupted independent scientific advice.”

Related – Cummings led government strategy which protected economy and put elderly at risk

Tags: headline

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Someone on Twitter summed up ‘The week in Tory’ & it’s brutal

Siberian huskies are among the most prized dogs in the world

Coronavirus rapid inquiry: Johnson agrees to look at recommendations

Pictures show moment man finds SHARK in his back garden – after it falls from SKY

Councils discuss community ‘warm banks’ as Centrica profits soar

Forests and coral reefs ‘collapsing quicker than ever before’

Watch: Lammy’s amazing response to Tory MP’s female Doctor Who comments

Thug who stabbed police dog in the head is jailed in UK legal first

El Pastor updates its menu, introducing more plant-based dishes

Piers Morgan uses first Sun column to hit out at Boris Johnson

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.