13 Times Boris Johnson Definitely Didn't Follow The Science On Coronavirus
The familiar refrain of “we’re following the science” has been a regular soundbite for Boris Johnson and his colleagues in government during the coronavirus pandemic, as they seek to reassure the public they’re doing everything they can halt it.
Yet over 100,000 and counting Brits are dead as a result of Covid-19, one of the worst death tolls of any country on earth.
Does that mean science is not the trusted, rigorous and largely infallible system of thought, knowledge and experiment we’ve been led to believe?
Absolutely not. A quick comparison of the science the government has actually said it’s following, versus what the government has actually done, reveals they’ve rarely followed the mantras they’ve so willingly expounded.
Google results suggest the expressions “guided by the science” and “follow the science” appeared on national and local government websites hundreds of times in 2020, compared with just seven in all previous years combined. And the phrases were used repeatedly by health secretary Matt Hancock and prime minister Boris Johnson at press conferences and in the Commons.
Here are a few of the times when the government seemingly wasn’t “guided by the science”.
The border closures
Sage recommended: That only mandatory hotel quarantines for all arrivals or a total border shutdown would keep mutations at bay.
The warning came as fears rose that another new and more infectious variant of the disease, this time originating in South Africa, could infect and spread among Brits, adding to crisis caused by the UK’s own variant which has swept the country.
The government: Waited a week and then introduced far laxer measures.
Boris Johnson outlined a plan only for travellers coming from 30 “red list” countries to face up to 10 days in hotel self-isolation.
The looser restrictions are still not in place and not official date has been announced.
Even more galling, the Independent Sage group of scientists recommended the use of...
