Now for the blame game Minister says ‘wrong’ science could have caused mistakes

A BITTER blame game erupted at Westminster yesterday after a Cabinet minister suggested mistakes in the Government’s virus strategy were due to poor scientific advice.

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey rejected criticism of ministers’ decision to halt testing for the virus in the community in mid-March.

The move to focus all testing on hospitals is now seen as a mistake, with the Commons science and technology committee yesterday describing it as ‘one of the most consequential’ events of the crisis.

But Miss Coffey yesterday rejected the idea that ministers should take responsibility as they were following scientific advice.

She told Sky News that ministers could ‘only make judgments and decisions based on the information and advice that we have at the time’.

She added: ‘If the science advice at the time was wrong, I am not surprised people think we made the wrong decision.’

No 10 later distanced itself from her remarks and praised the advice ministers have received from the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

The Prime Minister’s spokesman told reporters: ‘The PM is hugely grateful for the hard work and expertise of the UK’s world-leading scientists. We have been guided by their advice throughout and we continue to do so.’

When asked whether scientists should accept the blame for poor Government decisions, the spokesman added: ‘Scientists provide advice to the Government, ministers ultimately decide.’ Sir

Adrian Smith, incoming president of the Royal Society, has warned against making scientists the fall guys for political mistakes. ‘Politicians ultimately must make the decisions,’ he told The Times.

Sir Adrian predicted that scientists would not – in the long run – be blamed for decisions made by ministers, adding: ‘There will be a post-mortem on this. But I think the use of science and the reestablishment of experts is something that won’t go away.’

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Commons committee highlighted the failure to ramp up testing as a major mistake.

It blamed Public Health England (PHE) for the ‘pivotal decision’ to shun smaller labs and the failure to assess countries, such as Germany, which had successfully increased testing.

But PHE chief executive Duncan Selbie said it was ‘not responsible’ for the testing strategy, which ‘has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care’.

Downing Street refused to say who made the decision to halt testing in the community on March 12. And No 10 also declined to criticise PHE.

But Whitehall sources said that once the crisis is over, PHE is likely to be included in a shake-up of governmental structures to ensure that the country is prepared for a future epidemic. n Latest coronavirus video news, views and expert advice at mailplus.co.uk/coronavirus