The science of hindsight

ONE of the great revelations to come out of the Covid19 crisis is the huge number of professors who apparently we have in the UK.

To borrow a quip from Clive Anderson: Another week in which we have seen how fortunate we are to have so many medical experts to advise on government policy and how many medical experts we have to advise that the government policy advice is wrong.

It is evident that as well as their varied and often contradictory views, many of these experts are specialists in the science of hindsight.

Clearly any professor wanting their 15 minutes of fame must be critical of government policy. Anyone praising government policy does not fit with the gotcha approach to journalism and is unlikely to be reported on.

This was typified in a recent BBC interview of one of their favourite scientists who they can count on to be critical of official policy.

After the predictable barrage of criticisms of policy so far, this scientist was asked for his recommendations.

He ducked the question by answering he could not be precise as Covid-19 was a new disease, we were learning all the time and new treatments were being worked on.

The daily press briefings from Number 10 are unedifying in having processions of journalists all asking pretty much the same question.

Most of the media hostility comes from the pro-remain elite who will never forgive Boris Johnson for taking the UK out of their beloved EU.

I say that despairingly as someone who actively campaigned to remain in the EU but who has accepted my side lost. I wish others would do the same and all move on. ALAN BIRKMYRE,

NEWCASTLE