Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #jbc

Most recents (24)

#RishiSunak was at the heart of the #HerdImmunityScandal

Every epidemiologist, virologist & scientist made clear that - without a vaccine - #HerdImmunity was an “outcome” never a “strategy”

On 21/9/20, Sunak & Johnson skipped a crucial SAGE meeting to meet two lockdown sceptics
At the Sept meeting that Sunak skipped, SAGE had advised a circuit-breaker lockdown

Scientists had also warned against #Sunak's Eat Out to Help Out scheme which is closely linked to rise in #COViD19 cases & likely helped trigger a rise in deaths among ethnic minority populations
After #Sunak & Johnson were briefed by the anti-lockdown sceptics, they ignored SAGE’s advice to:

1. introduce a circuit-breaker lockdown

2. close pubs, restaurants & gyms

3. stop households mixing in each other’s homes

4. stop face-to-face teaching at universities & colleges
Read 5 tweets
#TeamMassSpec is the 2022 #JBC MethodsMadness Champion. However, now the real competition will begin. Who is the best of the best within #TeamMassSpec? The Seeding Committee has met and made the selections. Introducing the 2022 #TeamMassSpec Civil War Tournament entries...
The 2022 #TeamMassSpec Civil War Tournament
Mass Hysteria Regional:
1. Team Instrumental
2. Team Natural Products
3. Team Global Metabolomics
4. Team Biotherapeutics
5. Team Glycomics
6. Team Food
7. Team Single Cell
8. Team Agro
9. Team Get PI out of the Lab
10. Team Reviewer 2
The 2022 #TeamMassSpec Civil War Tournament
Mass Insanity Regional:
1. Team Proteome
2. Team Ion Mobility
3. Team Lipids
4. Team Top Down
5. Team Interactome
6. Team Ionization
7. Team Forensics
8. Team Nucleic Acids
9. Team Piano Bar
10. Team Sales Reps
Read 7 tweets
Without fanfare, the reasons for which will soon become obvious, @NHSEngland finally published its #DataStore "#DisseminationRegister":

england.nhs.uk/publication/da…

18 months after we first pointed out it had to, and over a year since we began requesting it!

Let's take a look...
For starters, it's staggering how little information the register actually contains. Just 18 lines, on 18 data flows or extracts over the past 18 months!

This for what has repeatedly been claimed as a "vital #COVID19 resource"?!

Here's a snapshot of ALL of them 👇
Of those 18 data flows, nine of them are to do with the #vaccination programme - and only started from February of this year. A tenth seems to be mis-dated, unless we had a vaccine no-one ever heard of in April 2020? 🤔

Several of the other named purposes we already knew...
Read 14 tweets
On this I can agree with @Dominic2306, and go further.

#SW1 #IT and #IG has been in a parlous state for well over a DECADE, and more.

A year and a slew of inquiries after the @HMRC #ChildBenefit #DataBreach in 2007, we #FOIed every Government Department about the #databases...
..of #PersonalData they held. (Initially just the ones containing over 1 million records.)

I'll have to dig up the responses, but I clearly remember only 4 or 5 (out of 24) even had an #InformationAssetRegister, i.e. just a basic list of all the #databases for which they were...
...'#responsible'.

The responses from @cabinetofficeuk & @10DowningStreet were even more appalling; they admitted allowing officials to routinely make copies of #population-scale data "for policy reasons" with no #oversight, no #audit, no defined #IG processes, and no idea of...
Read 13 tweets
Hmm. So the shadowy #JBC, a part of @UKHSAgovuk (which is, I note, still answering #FOI requests as @PHE_uk 🤔) is now hiring *permanent* staff:

jobs.ac.uk/job/CHZ649/nhs…

HT @samdownie
Noting that neither @UKHSAgovuk OR the #JointBiosecurityCentre were listed as official @DHSCgovuk agencies in its latest update...

gov.uk/government/pub…
...and that, after months of delay, @DHSCgovuk FLAT OUT DENIED #JBC needed any official establishing documents, framework agreements, MoUs or data sharing agreements - and that, despite saying it "ensured robust privacy standards", it had done no #DPIAs:

whatdotheyknow.com/request/joint_…
Read 5 tweets
1/. Starting today, the most important courtroom drama the UK has ever seen

The PM challenged on grounds of national security following the findings of the #RussiaReport by
@BenPBradshaw @RhonddaBryant @CarolineLucas @LordStras @AlynSmith & @PJWheatcroft
2/. Last July - after much delay - the #RussiaReport was finally published

It’s findings were truly terrifying

It revealed the govt & intelligence agencies had actively avoided looking for evidence that Russia interfered in the Brexit vote

Self-sabotage
3/. The implications of the #RussiaReport fed into my ongoing investigation into what appears to be a global #DataGrab for population-wide genomic data

I’d already traced the plan back to 2015

Russian interference in the 2016 #Trump election & #Brexit vote made perfect sense!
Read 12 tweets
“We were guided by the science. We didn't always follow the science" @MattHancock

So @BorisJohnson was lying when he said “we stuck to the science like glue”

Were they following the cod behavioural science of Halpern’s Nudge Unit & the ‘data science’ of #Palantir & #FacultyAI?
2/. On 13/5/20, I broke the #CareHomeScandal

On 2/4/20 the govt had INSTRUCTED hospitals to send people “who may have #COVID19” to care homes WITHOUT TESTING

The govt KNEW about asymptomatic transmission in Jan/Feb 2020

The question is which Minister signed off this directive.
3/. Hancock claims that no one knew about ASYMPTOMATIC SPREAD

This is not true

The govt knew asymptomatic transmission of #COVID19 was likely in Jan & had this confirmed in Feb

SAGE minutes on 28 January 2020 state that early indications suggest there was asymptomatic spread.
Read 17 tweets
1/. All the claims about our preparations & how everything was in order were basically completely hollow, but we didn’t figure this out until the back end of February”

#Cummings claims he was lied to by Hancock & others about the preparedness for COVID

These were not “mistakes”
2/. “Lots of COBRA meetings are just a bunch of PowerPoints & not very useful”

#Cummings explains why he didn’t bother to attend any of the 5 Crucial COBRA meetings in Feb 2020 & didn’t advise @BorisJohnson to attend either

He sent ‘his friend’ 33-year-old Ben Warner, instead.
3/. #Cummings has referred to Ben Warner a dozen times

Ben isn’t an epidemiologist, virologist or public health expert

His 2014 thesis was “Engineering the properties of magnetic molecules through the interaction with the surface

#Cummings has now mentioned his brother, Marc👇
Read 13 tweets
1/. We know SAGE recommended a circuit-breaker lockdown on 21 Sept

We know that on that day, the PM & @RishiSunak met controversial anti-lockdown scientists Anders Tegnell & Prof Heneghan & Prof Gupta

Now we know Prof Gupta advised a full #HerdImmunity strategy. #DISPATCHES
2/. We know that the PM did NOT “stick to the science like glue”

Every epidemiologist & virologist will tell you #HerdImmunity is an ‘outcome’ never a ‘strategy’

And yet the govt briefed @Peston that it was their ‘strategy’ on 12/3/20 & it appears the strategy didn’t go away. Image
3/. Could it be these repeated blunders were not really ‘mistakes’?

@sarahkendzior writes of the Trump admin:

“They cover up crime with scandal & cover up malice with incompetence. They want to project an image of being inept, instead of as having a cruel & well-defined plan.”
Read 23 tweets
1/ SAGE minutes still redact names of attendees (including a scientific adviser)

But since July, it’s been the #JointBiosecurityCentre that shapes #COVID19 strategy

Run by Tom Hurd (MI6) then Clare Gardner (GCHQ), the #JBC hasn’t released ANY minutes or named ANY of its members
2/. SAGE’s advice is fed to the secretive #JointBiosecurityCentre who often seem to ignore it

In Sept, SAGE’s call for a circuit-breaker lockdown was ignored

SAGE has been sidelined since the took over #COVID19 strategy

Why are It’s membership & it’s discussions kept secret?
3/. The #JointBiosecurityCentre, was launched as a £9 billion directorate of @DHSCgovuk, on 1 June 2020

According to sources, there is no actual ‘centre’. Instead the #JBC is spread across Whitehall offices

There is much speculation as to its membership
researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-pol…
Read 5 tweets
Oh boy! We're gonna have some fun with this one 🤣

@DHSCgovuk finally responded (after FOUR delays) to my #FOI request about the #JointBiosecurityCentre 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

TL;DR: Contradicting its own published statements, official procedures & Codes, #DHSC says it doesn't hold anything...
Here is @DHSCgovuk's response:

whatdotheyknow.com/request/696875…

and, for reference, here is a snapshot of the GOV.UK page about #JBC, taken 4 days after #DHSC's reply:

web.archive.org/web/2021040210…

So, what did DHSC say? I asked for a copy of the "establishing document"...
...for the #JointBiosecurityCentre, a £9 BILLION* new directorate** of @DHSCgovuk, and...

__
*According @CMO_England's evidence to Parliament last July:
researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-pol…

**According to its webpage, "#JBC was established as a new #directorate within DHSC on 1 June 2020".
Read 11 tweets
1/. On 5 March 2020, the PM was asked why Britain hadn't locked down

He replied saying "one the theories is that we could #TakeItOnTheChin"

A year ago today - briefed by No.10 - @Peston revealed the govt strategy was to “allow the virus to pass through the entire population”. ImageImage
2/. It was clear that @Peston & his “senior No.10 source” had not understood #HerdImmunity which - as every virologist will tell you - is an OUTCOME never a STRATEGY

Allowing #COVID19 to spread
without a vaccine would be madness & result in mass deaths.
3/. Rather than correct @Peston & his “senior No.10 source” @uksciencechief came out publicly to defend “the strategy”

#HerdImmunity without a vaccine is, by definition, not a preventative measure

What was going on?!!

The was no lockdown & the #CheltenhamFestival was starting! Image
Read 24 tweets
Still lack of checks at airports. We know about Brazilian & S.African variants so why not close off the air corridors?

Victoria Aitkins: “Travel measures take a little bit of time...There’s a delicate balancing act btw controlling the virus & the economy”
Ystdy, @YvetteCooperMP asked the PM what the govt are doing to stop new S.African variant spreading in the UK.

Why have people been able to travel from SA to UK for last 4wks without being tested & can go on public transport.

@BorisJohnson didn’t know!
“Oh god!”

Questioned about his govt’s repeated inexplicable failures to try & control #COVID19 at airports & lack of action to protect the UK from a new Brazilian variant of #coronavirus @BorisJohnson appeared to mutter “oh god” under his breath.
Read 10 tweets
1/. Extraordinary!

Sir Patrick Vallance yet again washes his hands entirely of any responsibility

Here, @PippaCrerar asks why the whole country isn't in lockdown

“The Tier decisions are not for me,” he says. Really?!

It’s a system designed to ensure the buck stops with no one
2/. I’m not a body language expert, but @uksciencechief’s habit of adjusting his glasses, looking away & um-Ing & ah-ing whenever he’s asked a penetrating question is getting wearily familiar.

Here is Vallance being questioned by @Jeremy_Hunt in May.
3/. In July, Vallance claimed he couldn't remember which date SAGE called for lockdown!

"The 18th or the 16th, I don't remember” he said

SAGE’s @JeremyFarrar says it was 13th

If these people’s memories are so bad now, imagine what they will be like in 2022 at a Public Inquiry!
Read 7 tweets
Wow!!!
Since July, the UK’s #COVID19 response is run by the secretive #JointBiosecurityCentre

The #JBC doesn’t share the science that leads them to take decisions

They haven’t released any minutes in 8 months

This lack of transparency makes proper scrutiny of govt decisions difficult
Decisions on UK #COVID19 response are formulated by the #JointBiosecurityCentre in Silver meetings

Recommendations are then made in Gold meetings & implemented by the govt

No minutes
No scrutiny
No transparency
No accountability

Who is in the #JBC?

Cummings?
Warner brothers?
Read 5 tweets
“There is no point having a merry Christmas then burying friends & family in January.”

Director the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre & @IndependentSage member,
@GabrielScally #COVID19 #Thanksgiving #Thanksgiving2020 #holidays #coronavirus
‘I don’t think it will do that.’

Hancock says he doesn’t think allowing families to gather at Christmas will lead to deaths

We don’t care what @MattHancock thinks

We care what experts & scientists advise

Why hasn’t the govt published any #JBC minutes?
Since July, the UK’s #COVID19 response is run by the secretive #JointBiosecurityCentre

The #JBC doesn’t share the science that leads them to take decisions

They haven’t released any minutes in 7 months

This lack of transparency makes proper scrutiny of govt decisions difficult
Read 5 tweets
1 - The fact that the govt ignored SAGE's advice on #circuitbreaker lockdown doesn't come as a big surprise as SAGE has been increasingly sidelined since the setting up of the #JointBiosecurityCentre in July

The JBC is part of the "NHS" Test and Trace Service run by @didoharding
2 - The #JointBiosecurityCentre runs the govt's #COVID19 response

Set up in May, it was originally headed by Tom Hurd (MI6)

He was replaced by Clare Gardiner (GCHQ)

This suggests it sits within UK intelligence structures

Over the last 6 months, the JBC has released no minutes ImageImage
3 - Whilst little is known about the staffing & membership of this body, sources suggest that there is no "centre"

Instead, they say, the #JBC is scattered across offices in Whitehall & beyond, including intelligence agencies & research institutes

See: gov.uk/government/gro… ImageImage
Read 12 tweets
1. “Why were we faffing around with Excel when the scientists were telling us not to?" @skynewsniall

“The system was designed in conjunction with our scientists... at PHE & the JBC they're all scientists who have been involved in this." @RishiSunak
2. “Scientists” didn’t decide on using Excel. It’s a reporting/admin tool

The scientists would have told IT what info the database needed to hold. The IT team should have designed a database fit for that purpose rather than using an old version of Excel.
3. Sunak is also allowed to claim: “We are now testing 250,000 people a day”

That’s the figure for tests “processed” NOT people tested

When @MattHancock claimed 226,000 people were being tested on 21/9, the actual figure turned out to be around 82,000.
Read 5 tweets
“A great journalist puts into words the things people feel. They seek truth & speak truth & are never seduced by the gilded strumpet of power”
Emerson Warner

Poppy Harlow gives a masterclass in how to interview someone who doesn’t want to answer questions
Here’s another masterclass, this time by @TovaOBrien
“Good journalists know balanced reporting is not as simple as providing both sides of the story. You have to squash falsehoods.” @TovaOBrien
#COVID19 #coronavirus #Corona
theguardian.com/world/2020/oct…
Read 17 tweets
PHS to be replaced with new body run by Dido Harding

SAGE replaced with #JointBiosecurityCentre run by Clare Gardiner (GCHQ)

Behavioural Insights Team now run by Rachel Coyle (MOD)

NHSX joint-run by Palantir. Lord Guthrie ex-head of UK armed forces is a shareholder in Palantir
Despite apparent attempts to brush their role under the carpet, the Behavioural Insights Team (Nudge Unit) seems to play a in central part in the govt’s #COVID19 response.

Why has the Nudge Unit & JBC both appointed senior cyber security experts as heads?
https://t.co/kLY21juCFT
Despite attempts to down play their role, the Behavioural Insights Team (‘Nudge Unit’) apparently plays a central part in the govt’s #COVID19 response.

But why has the Nudge Unit & the #JBC both appointed senior military cyber security experts as heads?
Read 10 tweets
Hmm. Can't read full article 'cos [£] but does it by any chance mention #JBC?

Merging @PHE_uk's "#COVID19 work" with #TestandTrace ain't the same as "scrapping" the entire agency - not even close! So what's the full story?

How, for example, will this new 'National Institute'...
...relate to the (also new*) #HealthProtection Directorate within @DHSCgovuk?

And again, whattabout the secretive spook-run** #JointBiosecurityCentre with its £9 BILLION budget?

__
*Which surfaced in a job ad about a week ago:

**researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-pol…
Also, while #Testandtrace may be *branded* "NHS", it isn't.

Check its homepage URL: contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk
i.e. the parts that aren't commissioned out are *already* @PHE_uk.

A quick scan of the legislation legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/7/c… and framework agreement
gov.uk/government/pub…
Read 7 tweets
Hmm. This job ad raises a few interesting questions:

civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?j…

So the #JointBiosecurityCentre is now designated a "new [according to the job title, #HealthProtection] Directorate within @DHSCgovuk"...

So whattabout @PHE_uk's existing #HealthProtectionDirectorate? ImageImage
Admittedly @PHE_uk's July 2020 leadership organagram* shows its "Data & Analytical Sciences" function is "Vacant" - and it seems #JBC's the one recruiting a whole bunch of data & behavioural scientists (as well as other sorts) but then, with its...

__
*assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl… Image
...£9 BILLION* budget(!), the secretive spook-run** #JointBiosecurityCentre - with its powers to set national #AlertLevels & to advise (trigger?) #LocalLockdowns - is, it seems, becoming quite a law unto itself.

The lack...

__
*researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-pol…

**ft.com/content/5f65b6…
Read 4 tweets
Hmm. #Lockdown by... <checks>... #PressRelease?

gov.uk/government/new…

(And exactly what data is coming "from" #JBC - a less than 3 month old spooky entity with no discernable public presence or statutory basis, that's still being scrambled together? https://t.co/hng24IrlfC)
Aside from this note on #JBC and "potential" data flows:
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…, the odd press article, one @CommonsHCLG evidence session:
committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/5… & this briefing from @bmj_latest: bmj.com/content/370/bm… what exactly do we know about the #JointBiosecurityCentre?
Government comms are in complete disarray:



And if @MattHancock's description of the Bronze-Silver-Gold 'Local Action' committee process to Parliament on 29 June was accurate, it's not like they won't have known this was coming:
gov.uk/government/spe…
Read 4 tweets
I'm sorry to say, but we're now in failed State territory.
You'll be shocked how long is the list of incompetence and negligence just for the past month.

I'll give you the list then propose what needs to be done.

Because this really cannot go on.
People who make decisions that kill, can't be trusted with more decisions

Section 1 #Covid19

1. UKGov killed 63,000 who should be alive-> airport fiasco
2. Replacing #SAGE with #JBC without explanation, undermining science
3. The 2m/1m fiasco, the result of Track & Trace lies.
4. Post #Cummings Social Distancing compliance fiasco. Public transport is a joke.
5. Track & Trace fiasco
6. Track & Trace App fiasco
Treated like fools. The Google/Apple app was the back up plan?
Obviously not, since UKGov is on record promising the complete opposite.
Read 22 tweets

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