- Bloomberg: Johnson’s Top Aide Pushed Scientists to Back U.K. Lockdown Archived Message
Posted by Sinister Burt
on May 4, 2020, 6:43 pm
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Suggests cummings did influence the SAGE committee, though conveniently in hindsight, it shows him pushing for a lockdown, at least in an 18th march meeting. Be nice if we had similar whistleblowers from any earlier meetings he attended too (or from the time he was reportedly saying 'if a few old people die, so be it'). https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-28/top-aide-to-u-k-s-johnson-pushed-scientists-to-back-lockdown "Boris Johnson’s most powerful political aide pressed the U.K.’s independent scientific advisers to recommend lockdown measures in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, according to people familiar with the matter. The government has confirmed that Dominic Cummings was an observer at some meetings of its Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the secretive body which gives specialized advice to ministers on responding to the pandemic. According to two people involved, Cummings played far more than a bystander’s role at a crucial SAGE meeting on March 18, as the panel discussed social distancing options to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the meetings are private, the people said Cummings asked why a lockdown was not being imposed sooner, swayed the discussion toward faster action, and made clear he thought pubs and restaurants should be closed within two days. They then were. The prime minister’s office denied that political advisers influenced the experts on the SAGE committee and said it was appropriate for aides to sit in on meetings and to ask questions. The two people who took part in the meeting said Cummings’s actions went further than simply asking for information. The suggestion that Cummings influenced the group’s lockdown decisions is likely to cast doubt on the government’s assurances that it has simply followed scientific advice throughout the crisis. As the death toll continues to rise, that could put Johnson in a more difficult position as he seeks to deflect criticism of the government’s response. [...] At the March 18 meeting, Cummings asked probing questions such as why the government should wait until the following week to impose a lockdown rather than doing so earlier, according to one of the people. He also said the public should not be allowed to leave work on March 20 and go to the pub afterward. The government ultimately told pubs and clubs to close on that day, before imposing a fuller lockdown that shuttered most shops on March 23. One attendee at the meeting described feeling uncomfortable that the panel with Cummings’s input was taking more of a decision-making approach than simply drawing up options and giving advice to ministers. The attendee added, however, that it was also a relief that Cummings had pushed for a lockdown because there were concerns that politicians had not fully understood how serious the coronavirus emergency had become. According to one person, Cummings directly asked the group at one point: “What is the Prime Minister going to say?” That was a sign of how far the panel had moved from drawing up advice to taking a policy decision, something that should not happen in a meeting of scientific advisers, the person said." Ctd. |
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