Coronavirus: Government accused of ignoring experts as top advisers absent from press briefings

Lib Dem acting leader Sir Ed Davey dismisses cabinet minister Dominic Raab’s explanations as ‘risible’

The government has been accused of “turning away from expert advice” after a minister suggested that scientific and medical officials were staying away from Downing Street briefings on coronavirus because they had “a huge amount of other work to do”.

Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat acting leader, dismissed as “risible” the explanation offered by foreign secretary Dominic Raab for his solo appearance at the daily press conference on Monday. And he warned that ministers risked “dismantling trust” in the government’s handling of Covid-19.

Boris Johnson is coming under pressure to explain changes to the pattern of appearances by key experts after The Independent reported that chief nurse Ruth May was dropped from a televised briefing when she refused to publicly back lockdown breaches by his top aide Dominic Cummings.

Mr Raab was the latest minister to appear at the lectern without experts since England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam sparked headlines by saying that lockdown rules “apply to all” when asked about Mr Cummings. Prof Van-Tam has not appeared at the press conferences since 30 May.

The foreign secretary, who read out the latest statistics on infections and death rates (normally presented at the daily briefings by a medic or scientist), denied that experts were being edged out.

“In terms of presence at these press conferences, scientists and the chief and deputy medical officers will continue to come and attend these press conferences.

“I think it is also true to say that as we go down the road map and start to talk about the changes we are making, whether it is to business, schools or other areas, we will also bring other independent experts along and make sure we can answer the full range of questions that people have.”

He added: “You are right to say the scientists and the medical adviser are important.

“They will continue to attend these press conferences, perhaps not on a daily basis – they’ve got a huge amount of other work to do – and undoubtedly the politicians need to answer the judgment calls we make based on the evolving science.”

His comments came amid reports that some scientists are wary of becoming the “fall guys” for politicians in any inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sir Ed Davey said: “The idea that senior experts in government are too busy to answer questions from the public and media is risible.

“The Conservatives are deliberately turning away from expert advice and, in doing so, dismantling any trust people have in this government.”

Asked about reports that Ms May was dropped from a coronavirus briefing, Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson referred reporters back to the comments of transport secretary Grant Shapps, who said last Friday that he “didn’t think” this was the case.

The spokesperson said that “to the best of my knowledge”, The Independent’s report – based on the testimony of two senior NHS sources – was not true. But he was unable to point to any specific inaccuracies.

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said he had received no response to a letter he wrote last week to Mr Johnson demanding an explanation for the “sporadic and unpredictable” appearances of expert officials including chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance since Mr Cummings was revealed to have broken lockdown by driving his family to Durham when he believed he and his wife had coronavirus.

But Mr Johnson’s spokesperson said that both Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick had appeared at a press conference last week, adding that other recent televised briefings had featured other prominent medical figures.

The PM’s spokesperson said the chief nurse “may well” appear again at the No 10 briefings and pointed to a message featuring her on the official Downing Street Twitter feed.

Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, has also written to the health secretary to demand an explanation.

Following Mr Raab’s comments, Ms Wilson said: “The image of the foreign secretary standing alone at the press conference was stark.

“We have seen over the past week a deliberate move away from expert advice and transparency at the daily press conferences.

“It is absolutely crucial that people have faith in the government through their handling of the coronavirus crisis, particularly as the lockdown is eased and people come into more contact with each other.”