Remarkable story from The Guardian. Cummings' place on SAGE must considerably lessen the authority of Downing St "guided by the science" line, given we now know, that to some extent at least, that scientific advice has been influenced by well, Downing St. theguardian.com/world/2020/apr…
Unless I've read it incorrectly then the story is suggesting Cummings and Warner are sat on SAGE itself and can participate, not just observe. According to David King, former Chief Scientific Adviser, this never happened on equivalent occasions under him. David Liddington agrees.
Have just spoken to Sir Bob Kerslake, former Head of the Civil Service. He told me that if Cummings is a full member of SAGE: “it’s both surprising and concerning. The risk is the government is leading the science when it’s supposed to be the other way round.”
Not everyone agrees it’s a big deal though, see below. All will boil down to precise nature of Cummings’ membership. Of course, we can’t know because minutes aren’t published.
NEW: Downing St denies Guardian story-
