Prof. Ferguson7 May 2020 08:30
Sorry O/T - to fill in until the next price zoom !
Prof. Neil Ferguson having been thrown to the wolves ignobly by Matt Hancack, some interesting thoughts on 'Government by Science Committees" : "One scientific adviser to the government said Ferguson’s resignation had created “an awful lot of concern” and that the mood in the community was “very depressed”. The events revealed how university academics who lent their advice to government were having to cope with an increasingly difficult situation, the adviser added. “He’s an academic researcher. He doesn’t make decisions. He’s not paid for any of this. We are being drawn into a political situation which is very unpleasant,” they said. The prurient headlines about Neil Ferguson are a huge distraction. Ferguson had become one of the most trusted voices on the outbreak and took a prime role in discussing the reasons for the lockdown and social distancing measures. But that prominence led to him being portrayed as a decision-maker rather than an independent scientist whose team generated predictions that informed ministers about what strategies they might take.
“The media are presenting the scientists as decision-makers when they’re not. We are in the frontline when we shouldn’t be. We are not the story,” the adviser said. Unlike the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, and the chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, the independent university academics who sit on Sage do not have teams to manage their media appearances and support them."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/06/uk-scientists-being-drawn-into-very-unpleasant-political-situation
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