SCIENTISTS: THIS HAS TRASHED ALL OUR HARD WORK
SENIOR government medical advisers have accused Boris Johnson of wrecking public trust and threatening the fight against the virus.
University of St Andrews psychology professor Stephen Reicher, who serves on the Sage committee on behavioural science, tweeted: ‘I can say that in a few short minutes Boris Johnson trashed all the advice we have given on how to build trust and secure adherence to the measures necessary to control Covid-19.
‘Be open and honest, we said. Trashed. Respect the public, we said. Trashed. Ensure equity, so everyone is treated the same, we said. Trashed. Be consistent we said. Trashed. Make clear “we are all in it together”. Trashed.’
Shortly after the academic’s post was shared, three other government advisers – two of whom are also part of Sage – echoed Prof Reicher’s anger. Susan Michie, professor of health psychology at University College London, said: ‘I don’t want science to be dragged down by association with dishonesty. My fear is that science, which is key to getting through this pandemic, will be diminished in the eyes of the public.’ Fellow Sage member Robert West tweeted: ‘Conservative MPs and supporters must be feeling alarmed at what is going on in government. It is nothing short of a shambles with Trumpian levels of deceit.
‘The people of this country are being treated like idiots and I doubt that they will stand for it.’
He implored the public to continue following lockdown guidance, adding: ‘There is a natural human tendency to say, “If someone else can flout it, so can I”, but who will suffer? Dominic Cummings won’t suffer if we abandon it, the Prime Minister won’t suffer – it will be the people who we love who will suffer.’
Meanwhile, Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist on the government’s pandemic modelling group, said: ‘I spent this weekend refining our contact tracing analysis. For these measures to work, we need public adherence to quarantine to be very high. But I fear it’s now going to be far more difficult to achieve this.’