The 'Ball' Must Remain in Their Court!

The UK's long-awaited public inquiry on the Covid19 pandemic has finally started. It's clearly going to be a long, long process. One can only hope that the 'lessons learned' (how I hate that phrase!), will be acted on, before the next pandemic. It's already evident that neither the UK nor its National Health Service were in good positions, before the outbreak. Professor Devi Sridhar (University of Edinburgh) has, however, noted the first, predictable ministerial attempts at 'passing the buck' (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/13/covid-inquiry-ministers-scientific-advisers). Professor Sridhar appears bemused, the UK's current Prime Minister (PM) says it was a mistake to 'empower scientists'. At the time of this pandemic, this now PM was in charge of the country's finance. He appeared to ignore all scientific advice, for example, in his ill-considered 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme. Sridhar says the inquiry must be absolutely clear that the so-called 'scientific decisions' were not made by scientists. Diverse scientists present the probable risks and benefits, associated with following certain policies (like wearing face masks, closing schools, lockdowns etc). These 'boffins' (another term I hate) generally offer alternative actions. They would have stated how reliable their advice was, to the best of then current knowledge. Scientists can, of course, be criticised for the quality of their science. Final executive decisions, however, are made by political leaders. It's very clear that, contrary to claims at the time, the science was rarely 'followed'.