The Covid Inquiry has been accused of wasting time and resources by inviting input from two-thirds of the members of the pro-lockdown, Left-wing lobby group Independent SAGE, led by Communist Susan Michie. The Telegraph has the story.
Baroness Heather Hallett, the Chair of the Inquiry, has written to 17 members of Independent Sage which criticised the country’s re-opening and later called for fresh lockdowns.
Independent Sage claimed to shadow the work of the official Scientific Advisory Group and says it is “following the science” but has faced questions over its credibility after calling for lockdowns in the summer and winter of 2021.
The multi-million pound inquiry will hear its first evidence this week, two years after it was first announced, from experts behind the Government’s contingency planners in the run-up to the pandemic.
But concerns have been raised after it emerged that two-thirds of Independent Sage’s current and former members have been asked for evidence despite playing no official role during the pandemic.
Based on current timetabling of around two hours per witnesses this could mean the inquiry could spend between nearly two to three weeks questioning the scientists if all were asked to give evidence.
The group’s deputy chair is Professor Susan Michie, who has been a member of the Communist Party of Britain for almost 50 years, and several of its academics are not experts in responding to pandemics.
The inquiry has issued 19 letters to “those individuals as well as to a number of other scientists”, indicating few other scientists who did not give direct advice to the Government have been approached.
In contrast two academics who complained government models were wrong, Professor Karol Sikora and Dr. Tom Jefferson, have been snubbed by the inquiry.
Prof. Sikora, a leading oncologist, said he was not surprised the inquiry had chosen not to contact him and expected them to focus on those who backed the official narrative on lockdowns.
Another set of lockdown critics – Professor Carl Heneghan and Professor Sunetra Gupta, both from the University of Oxford – have been contacted with the inquiry. However, this is because they gave advice to ministers late in the pandemic. …
Professor Michie once said that social distancing should remain “forever, to some extent” while in December 2021, [Independent SAGE’s] Dr. Deepti Gurdasani called for “a circuit breaker” lockdown over the Omicron variant and later claimed lockdown was inevitable.
Former minster and one-time Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith hit the nail on the head:
The point about this Covid Inquiry is this is the sort of stuff we should be looking at and asking the question did we need to lockdown? At the moment what I can make out is they are not doing that. What they are actually doing is they are getting involved in the why didn’t we lockdown earlier debate and I worry they will ignore the whole question of did we need to lockdown in the way that we did. That’s the big question.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: For anyone hoping Baroness Hallett would cast a sceptical eye over the Covid restrictions, a notice that went out to all staff and visitors to Dorland House, where the hearings will take place, was a bad sign. It asked them all to take a lateral flow test before entering the building.
Tomorrow will see the start of the @covidinquiryuk hearings.
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) June 12, 2023
It doesn't bode well for an evidence-based inquiry given their "Covid policy" includes asking everyone who attends to… take a Covid lateral flow test. Yes, really.pic.twitter.com/A7cM8GYpOi
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“Covid Inquiry Invites Input From 17 Members of Pro-Lockdown Left-wing Lobby Group ‘Independent SAGE’ Led by Communist Susan Michie”
Sounds fair!
Par for the course..
Protecting themselves, and not real people, perhaps. Anyway, as there was an “independent SAGE”. Perhaps there should be an independent inquiry – indeed, there is one. You don’t have to look too far for that, if it’s organised and ready to dispute the results of the other lot.
Next they will canvass Hancock, Doris, Ferguson, Whitty, Starmer, Sturgeon, Drakeford et al, who will say that they did not do enough, hard enough, fast enough, or deep enough. But there is always next time. Learn from our mistakes, upon reflection, insights etc etc.
“Baroness Heather Hallett, the Chair of the Inquiry, has written to 17 members of Independent Sage which criticised the country’s re-opening and later called for fresh lockdowns.”
in that case, why not just lock her down? She’ll be happy then and can have a whale of a time in solitary confinement!
What a splendid idea.. why didn’t I think of that.. ???
Answer : obviously not as bright as Dinger..
Well.. Michie’s one red I wouldn’t want under my bed.. and certainly not in it.. perish the thought..
“Independent SAGE” may have been “Independent” of the government, but they are “dependent” on the “pandemic” industry for their existence and importance. Ditto WHO, Big Pharma, “real” SAGE. Goodness knows why so many people took all their pronouncements at face value rather than as people “talking their book”.
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE communist Susan Michie.
Sounds like she’s a little more “equal” than the rest of her comrades!
It’s funny how Communism, whilst claiming to liberate the prolitariate, always seems to have some very rich backers. Could it be that it’s nothing more that a scam to monopolise markets and inflict one’s own hubristic fantasies about the world should be on everyone else?
Susan Michie is probably far right according Marianna Spring.
Everybody is far right according to that lefty tart!
As if the Covid inquiry was anything other than a gaslighting pantomime to mask the greatest looting spree and assault on our lives in modern history.
You know the government is just screwing with us by pretending they are concerned what happened during lockdown , they don’t give a damn.
The COVID inquiry is a political farce supposed to find out that evil Tories killed loads of people by not doing everything-corona earlier, harder, faster and for longer because they cared more about insignificant things like the economy and just don’t care about important things like people. When the select independent SAGE for input but omit HART (for instance) it’s absolutely clear who’s driving the car and where the journey’s supposed to go.
I read of these trips , one journey ended near Durham (or north of Islington) at a beer and curry party that was sanctioned by the police during lockdown.
Right. Instead of asking whether lockdown worked, they are assuming it did. Some inquiry!
Specifically, the Mitch-Thing wanted to keep mandatory public face masking forever as that was never really about COVID. She admitted as such in an interview in 2021, at the height of her pandemic career. She had seen many people with such masks during an earlier holiday in Japan and badly wanted to get Britons to wear them as well to combat unspecific dangerous germs.
“Germs”, such a scientific term
“Independent SAGE”
…
“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”
…
“German Democratic Republic”
You know when they have to say it, it’s because they aren’t.
‘Independent SAGE’, aka ‘Communist SAGE’!
Anyone expecting a proper Inquiry – listening to both sides of the debate – hasn’t been paying attention for the past 3 years.
If you didn’t agree/conform to the Government “line to take” you were silenced. And the Inquiry will do the same, since there must be only one outcome: “lockdowns were justified; the destruction was necessary; the Government did what the Government had to do.”
Move along ….. nothing to see or discuss.
But “lessons will be learned” so that’s OK then
“Take a lateral flow test before entering the building” WTF?
Nowhere does it say HOW LONG befiore – I’m sure that 2 years will suffice.
Governments are whitewashing all the unnecessary damages, destruction of livelihoods, injuries and deaths they caused with their covid policies. You can bet that any government initiated inquiry will do the same as was done during covid. In Canada a National Citizens Inquiry (NCI) was formed to record and has been holding townhall meetings across country inviting people to give testimony. You can find them at https://nationalcitizensinquiry.ca . Many Doctors have testified how they were threatened and coerced and also how they were prevented from giving treatment and reporting vaccine injuries.
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Sorry I really don’t care anymore and if it gets me banned it will be worth it and I’ll cancel my subscription to this site so f it!
ARSEHOLES!!! The lot of them.