ADVISERS ARE SCAPEGOATS

PETER Steen is leader of the Rossendale Conservatives and an ardent supporter of Boris Johnson’s government.

So it comes as no surprise that he tries to find scapegoats for the Conservative government’s abysmal handling of the coronavirus pandemic. (December 11).

But his attack on the government scientific advisers was completely unwarranted and made worse by the unpleasant tone in which he did it.

It is the job of advisers to advise. It is then up to cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister, to make decisions.

Decisions on lockdown and which areas were assigned to Tier 3 were made by Boris Johnson and other cabinet ministers, not by government advisers.

Government advisers usually give their advice in private. It was Boris Johnson who wanted the advisers to take part in the No.10 briefings, probably because he realised that he and other ministers were not capable of answering searching questions and justifying their decisions. If all the public heard was minsters waffling and evading questions then trust in them would have plummeted even more quickly than it did.

Peter Steen’s remarks now suggest that putting up advisers to give bad news was a deliberate ploy to deflect blame from ministers. And Peter Steen seems all too willing to help it along.

Colin Davison

Blackburn Road, Haslingden