A senior member of Boris Johnson’s government has blamed its coronavirus mistakes on ‘wrong’ scientific advice given by its advisers.
Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, told Sky News: ‘If the science was wrong, advice at the time was wrong. I’m not surprised if people will then think we made a wrong decision.’
Ministers have been receiving advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
The UK has suffered the second-highest coronavirus death toll in the world.
The death toll is already more than double what the government’s own advisers predicted would be a “good result” for the country.
The UK government has blamed its own scientific advisers for giving them the “wrong” advice on tackling the coronavirus, as the death toll continues to grow in the country.
The coronavirus death toll in the UK on Monday has reached at least 44,000, according to the Office for National Statistics, meaning Britain has the second-highest recorded coronavirus death toll in the world after the US.
Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, was asked on Tuesday if with “hindsight” the government had “got it wrong.”
“If the science was wrong, advice at the time was wrong, I’m not surprised if people will then think we made a wrong decision,” Coffey told Sky News.
Ministers have been receiving advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
“We are getting advice from the scientists,” Coffey said. “It is for ministers to decide on policy.”
“We have tried to take, every step of the way, making sure that we listen to the science, understand the science and make decisions based on that.”
It came as Sir Adrian Smith, one of the UK’s top scientists, told the Times of London newspaper that ministers should not say “we are simply doing what scientists tell us” over coronavirus and share the advice they have received more openly.
www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-uk-blames-scientists-for-wrong-advice-on-pandemic-2020-5