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Good Morning. Ministers used to claim they were “following the science” in their response to the coronavirus pandemic. That claim is now in tatters after the release last night of documents from Sage, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, showing that three weeks ago they called for a fifteen-day total lockdown (a “circuit breaker”) to stop the spread of the virus. . Boris Johnson rejected that advice. My colleague Ian shows has the story here.
Of course, ministers have the right to reject scientific advice, and quite often posterity concludes that this was the right thing to do. The prime minister has to apply a broader definition of the public good (that is, including the economy) than Sage, which focuses primarily on health. There is a strong argument that Johnson was wrong in March by relying too much on Sage’s advice. But that’s based on the theory that it should have implemented the blocking measures earlier, when Sage argued that it would be a mistake to rush (due to possible compliance fatigue) and play with the theory of herd immunity (since it was disowned) . Now Johnson is open to the accusation of ignoring the scientists when they advocated for greater caution. It’s a dangerous position for him if everything goes wrong and Sage’s warnings are justified.
This morning we had the first response from a minister. Robert jenrickThe communities secretary was doing the morning round of interviews and when told that the government was ignoring Sage, he justified it on the grounds that the prime minister was taking a “balanced” approach. He said:
We have to adopt a balanced judgment, they are not easy decisions.
But the prime minister has to balance protecting people’s lives and the NHS from the virus while prioritizing the things that matter to us as a society, like education and keeping as many people in employment as possible, and It also ensures that other health risks, such as mental health and illness, are not neglected as a result
That is the difficult but balanced judgment we are taking.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30 am: The ONS publishes its weekly death figures for England and Wales.
9.30 am: Helen Whately, the Minister of Care, and a host of other care specialists provide evidence to joint health committee and scientific committee research on coronavirus: lessons learned.
9.30 am: Leeds City Council Leader Judith Blake gives a press conference.
12:00 h: Downing Street conducts its daily briefing in the lobby.
12:15 pm: Nicola Sturgeon, the Prime Minister of Scotland, conducts her regular briefing on the coronavirus.
12.30 pm: A Treasury minister responds to an urgent question about economic support for areas affected by local Covid restrictions.
1.30 pm: Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Prime Minister, answers questions in the Senedd.
After 1:30 p.m.: Parliamentarians start a debate on the latest regulations on coronavirus. There will be voting at 6 pm.
Politics Live has doubled as the UK’s coronavirus live blog for some time and given the way the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will also cover political stories other than Covid.
Here’s our global coronavirus live blog.
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