Downing Street on Saturday went into strong denial mode after a political row broke out over a UK media report claiming that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top aide had attended secret meetings of the scientific group advising the government on its Covid-19 response strategy.
‘The Guardian’ claimed that Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s chief strategic adviser, and an official associated with the Brexit campaign were part of the meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). This triggered Opposition anger as it implies government influence over what is pegged as an independent advisory body, the membership of which has not been made public.
“ 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,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“ Public confidence in the media has collapsed during this emergency partly because of ludicrous stories such as this,” the spokesperson said.
Johnson’s office stresses that Cummings and Ben Warner, a data scientist associated with the Vote Leave campaign for the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), are not members of the group and had only listened in to SAGE meetings in order to better understand the scientific debate around coronavirus.
They “ occasionally” asked questions or offered help with reaching out to civil servants at Whitehall when required.
SAGE is a panel of medical and scientific experts, chaired by the UK’s Chief Scientific Officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, that provides independent advice to the government during any crisis and has been leading on crucial decisions such as the length and nature of the Covid-19 lockdown. Its advice feeds into ministers’ decision-making process and is not made public.