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Covid and the Death of the Scientific Method

by Toby Young
4 July 2021 5:05 PM

We’re publishing an original piece today by John A. Fairclough, an Hon. Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at the University Hospital of Wales and Professor Emeritus at Cardiff Metropolitan University. It’s very critical of the way in which a few medics and public health directors have dictated government policy over the last 15 months. Here is an extract:

While Matt Hancock was running around in nursery, I managed a polio epidemic, had malaria, treated leprosy and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in cannibals (Mad Cow) – also abandoned my pregnant wife for safety in a convent in Papua New Guinea to rescue a voluntary worker, had a career in medicine of over five decades, published widely, including on infection ritual, the wearing of masks, and once appeared in the Times Top 10 surgeons.

I was married to a Welsh geography teacher who survived eclampsia, cerebral oedema in ITU and fractured jaw, breast cancer and ectopic pregnancy.

I lectured Internationally on the Myth of Surgical Ritual (including the nonsense of cloth masks). The above photo is a slide from the lecture.

We are now the grannies and grandads whom Matt Hancock patronised by asking the younger generation to save. We can’t apparently assess our own risk.

The absence of scientists in the political masters and some media correspondents has rendered them incapable of interrogating the validity of data suggested by some scientists. It may be a surprise to many that epidemiologists are mainly mathematicians not medics and that most scientists on SAGE are not practising clinicians who wear masks as surgeons do as part of their practice.

We now have a new Health Secretary but sill the lamentable voices of SAGE, the BMA and a host of individuals who appear incapable of distinguishing scientific data from opinion.

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Matt HancockSAGEThe BMA

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50 Comments
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PoshPanic
PoshPanic
3 years ago

Definitely worth reading in full. Great article.
To add to the summary, if you don’t live life to the full, you’re a long time dead.

84
-1
iane
iane
3 years ago
Reply to  PoshPanic

Mind you, that is a catch-22 situation – even if you live life to the full, you are a long (very, very long) time dead. Still, c’est la vie!

9
0
StPiosCafe
StPiosCafe
3 years ago
Reply to  iane

we ‘ve already spent around 14,000,000 millenia dead and we never even noticed!

8
0
Julian
Julian
3 years ago

We’re going back to the pre-Copernican era

I would love to see these idiots be given 90% of the planet and sceptics the other 10% and see who comes out on top in a few decades

If you start thinking that science is a matter of opinion, your aeroplanes fall out of the sky

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watersider
watersider
3 years ago
Reply to  Julian

Why do I keep going back to that other great

2
0
watersider
watersider
3 years ago
Reply to  watersider

Scientific scam, the man mad global warming fraud? Thank God for the few brave realists in our time of need.

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iane
iane
3 years ago
Reply to  watersider

Man mad global warming: so true!

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-2
Woden
Woden
3 years ago
Reply to  Julian

Read the latest from Dr. Malcolm Kendrick on the death of scientific research, particularly in the medical field.

20
0
William Gruff
William Gruff
3 years ago
Reply to  Julian

As long as the 10% have the weapons everything should be fine.

2
0
PhantomOfLiberty
PhantomOfLiberty
3 years ago

I believe John Fairclough has elided CJD with the Foot and Mouth fiasco but some very good points. I doubt whether Hancock was up to asking challenging questions of his advisers and though Javid probably is he doesn’t have the inclination, and both are allied to the Davos gang. The political class has been emptied of people of any real metal – the Labour ranks are pitiful and looking only for global patronage.

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wantok87
wantok87
3 years ago
Reply to  PhantomOfLiberty

Sadly it is not incorrect he made silly claims with dire consequences fir cattle in BSE and Foot and Mouth
He is a menace to man amd beast!
Ferguson was behind the disputed research that sparked the mass culling of eleven million sheep and cattle during the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. He also predicted that up to 150,000 people could die. There were fewer than 200 deaths. . . .
In 2002, Ferguson predicted that up to 50,000 people would likely die from exposure to BSE (mad cow disease) in beef. Over four million head of cattle were slaughtered in an effort to contain the outbreak, and 177 people died after contracting vCJD through eating infected beef. In the U.K., there were only 177 deaths from BSE.
Molecular and neuropathological data from these transmissions show that kuru prions are distinct from variant CJD and have transmission properties equivalent to those of classical (sporadic) CJD prions.

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Bella Donna
Bella Donna
3 years ago
Reply to  wantok87

Yet he was the person this government sought to consult over Covid. That was for me the moment I decided it was a Plandemic not a Pandemic!

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-1
Woden
Woden
3 years ago
Reply to  wantok87

He should have had to kill each poor animal… he is a bloody menace with no qualifications in bugger all !..

20
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monica coyle
monica coyle
3 years ago
Reply to  wantok87

Ferguson has got things wrong time and time again. He long ago lost all credibility. You would think he would be embarrassed at the gross failure of his predictions and do everyone a favour by quitting. He’s a dangerous idiot.

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Glynthepin
Glynthepin
3 years ago
Reply to  monica coyle

He’s far worse than an idiot….

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Dave
Dave
3 years ago
Reply to  Glynthepin

I’m pretty much convinced he has something on the tousle-haired shagwit and maybe many other politicians.
How else does he get so much influence?

3
0
Sandra Barwick
Sandra Barwick
3 years ago
Reply to  monica coyle

It’s deliberate. He’s not an idiot, and it’s not an accident.

3
0
Sandra Barwick
Sandra Barwick
3 years ago
Reply to  wantok87

David King takes chief responsibility for the tragedy and huge expense of foot and mouth slaughter policy. Yes, that David King.
And, ironically, they should have vaccinated.

1
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MikeAustin
MikeAustin
3 years ago

A very good article from an intelligent, experienced and well-qualified person.
One point he makes that has not been emphasised nearly enough is the amount of money that has gone into establishing lockdown-dependent livelihoods. This disposes those people to prolong this ridiculous situation. It is not sustainable and can only have a bad outcome.

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iane
iane
3 years ago
Reply to  MikeAustin

All so true. I keep seeing talk about UFOs on the air-waves – well, if there is anyone out there, now would be a pretty good time to strike!

11
0
Brett_McS
Brett_McS
3 years ago
Reply to  MikeAustin

True, and the writer is obviously intelligent, but that article contains some of the worst English I have ever read. In dire need of an editor.

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spiraldave
spiraldave
3 years ago
Reply to  Brett_McS

This criticism seems too harsh. I found the article chillingly compelling. Aside from a type (‘sill’ instead of ‘still’) and some missing commas or semi-colons, the only problem I found with the writing was that it seemed a little rushed. However, considering the extreme frustration that the writer understandably has experienced, perhaps any apparent haste was not only justified but made the article more readable. The errors did not spoil the article for me at all.

I do agree that editing should be used for all published articles. But the MSM don’t care, so there is even less incentive for other sites to be more professional. No excuse though.

Would you like to give a couple of examples of the more egregious errors of expression that marred the article’s effectiveness for you?

0
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spiraldave
spiraldave
3 years ago
Reply to  spiraldave

And I missed my own typo, of course! I wrote ‘type’ instead of ‘typo’. Sorry. I wish we could edit our comments, but perhaps it will teach me to proofread better.

0
0
isobar
isobar
3 years ago

An excellent article from someone eminently well qualified to comment on the mendacious takeover of science and medicine by the lockdown zealots.

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JayBee
JayBee
3 years ago

We here all realized that this was very different and that something was going horribly wrong, when the censorship started.
For me, it was the refusal of the FAZ in Germany to publish an ad by 4 critical, renowned professors that opened my eyes.
WHO only, Wieler’s infamous incarnation and new definition of unscientificness: ‘Hands, Face, Space may never be questioned!’ and then Gupta, Streeck, Bhakdi&co all being villified instead of invited on TV or at least their arguments being discussed.
It culminated initially in and with the totally unscientific, and illegal, mask mandates, to which Michael Levitt responded by endorsing the ‘after 300 years of enlightenment we are back to superstition and witchcraft’ sketch reported on here at LS, but it all went even further downhill ever since, with the therefore to be expected horrible results.
To me, and many others, this refusal to act scientifically and thereby objectively search for the best solution, coupled with the in many instances obvious conclusion that as they are neither stupid nor not being made aware of the differing scientific viewpoints, means that they can often only be deliberately lying, and that then led me to be convinced that they are just evil and do really follow a very different and most sinister agenda.
Special places in hell are most definetely reserved for them and their more conscious helpers, but I’d very much prefer them all being brought to justice during my lifetime too.

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BurlingtonBertie
BurlingtonBertie
3 years ago
Reply to  JayBee

Hell is too good for them…

11
-1
ellie-em
ellie-em
3 years ago

That was a refreshing read, loved it. Common sense.

I so needed that after reading so much twaddle on FB today. I don’t know why I put myself through it, it’s not good for my physical or mental health.

I group I’m on that I very infrequently visit, was discussing whether it was a good idea to drop the masks on the 19th. Lots of professional people on the group. Most of them have willingly fallen in line, adopted the Covid religion and been injected! The stench of assumed superiority is overwhelming.

About two thirds on the post will continue wearing the mask. They don’t trust those people who say masks are useless. Full of praise for the government and SAGE who have done everything to protect people. Many asserted that despite the fact they’ve been ‘fully, doubly injected’ they will continue to wear the mask and social distancing when amongst people they don’t know, out shopping, on public transport etc as they wouldn’t feel safe otherwise!

There was much berating of the irresponsible, uninjected whose fault it was that restrictions had been imposed, to be suffered by everyone. They were fed up of it all. The irony. If – if – the current restrictions are removed / modified on the 19th, they have already declared they are choosing to continue to restrict themselves!

They live and walk amongst us…I don’t think there’s any hope for them. They are lost souls.

Thank goodness there is still evidence of sanity and rational thinking that keeps me going in this alien world. Existing – not living – is becoming hard work.

65
-1
BurlingtonBertie
BurlingtonBertie
3 years ago
Reply to  ellie-em

Village gardens open day today. Some idiot suggested that wearing masks was a good idea! I suggested letting folk use their common sense, reply was that would mean not wearing a mask…. Outside on a windy day… Ye gods!
Some garden owners said that they did not expect anyone to wear a mask in their garden but keep your distance was to be strictly enforced… I truly despair.

Last edited 3 years ago by BurlingtonBertie
29
0
CynicalRealist
CynicalRealist
3 years ago
Reply to  ellie-em

Well, when it comes to public transport they are going to have to get used to no physical distancing because many people have now had enough and will not be pandering to it, and they cannot expect to have a pair of seats or a table to themselves on the triain at busier times.

I have no doubt that in the next few weeks the maskivist agenda will be pushed hard, and there will be a ramping up of hostility towards those who do not want the vaccine.

27
0
Glynthepin
Glynthepin
3 years ago
Reply to  ellie-em

Was on the tube the other day, lots of people not wearing masks. Was good to see.

5
0
ellie-em
ellie-em
3 years ago
Reply to  Glynthepin

Good to know. Thanks.

3
0
B.F.Finlayson
B.F.Finlayson
3 years ago

The acquisition of knowledge that has characterised the development of science requires applying rigorous scepticism about what is observed, as preformed opinion or assumptions can distort how one interprets the data.

Drip, drip, drip as professionals and fence sitters finally smell the coffee, and try to manoeuvre themselves onto the right side of history. Such a pity LDS didn’t apply such sceptical rigour on the question of vaccines and coercion. Instead it published article after government friendly article on the vaxx roll out, with LDS proclaiming itself as being neither pro nor anti vaxx, despite mounting MHRA and VAERS evidence of deaths and life changing adverse reactions. LDS seemed to want to deny the symbiotic policy connection between lockdown and experimental vaccines, which had driven the fiasco of the last 16 months despite it having been openly admitted by the PM back in March 2020

Instead of leading an ethical editorial counter charge against murderous government policy and mandatory vaccinations, LDS left it to a few BTL voices to shout out about the inevitable upcoming carnage once young people and schoolchildren are jabbed (arrived at simply by applying available MHRA and ONS statistics, and not conspiratorial hysteria). 

This despite LDS publishing recent articles showing that UK vaxx deaths alone were running at 1 in 24,000, and subject to up to 95% under reporting which would take that figure to 1 in 1200. In other words, applying the published logic of LDS articles, out of 9m UK schoolchildren some 375 (up to 7,500) will likely die from the upcoming vaccine roll out (as opposed to less than 10 unvaccinated healthy schoolchildren who might die of Covid 19). 

40
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iane
iane
3 years ago
Reply to  B.F.Finlayson

And how many of those children, I wonder, will go on to develope dreadful problems due to being stabbed?

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B.F.Finlayson
B.F.Finlayson
3 years ago
Reply to  iane

By applying the latest MHRA Yellow card figures out of almost 300,000 reported reactions there have been 1403 reported deaths. So out of the minimum of 375 likely deaths in school children there will (by extrapolation ) be around 80,000 reported short term reactions of varying severity (as reported by Yellow Card, ie under 7 days). Please note:

  • The government refuses to give the figures for longer term vaccine deaths up to 30 days, despite Parliamentary questions.
  • No one yet knows the estimated serious and fatal long term adverse reactions (1 year plus) or the possible serious inter-generational impact of these gene therapies.
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Susan
Susan
3 years ago

Refreshing!

4
0
I am Spartacas
I am Spartacas
3 years ago

I, along with my wife, will no longer wear a mask.

Well done – I’ve not worn a mask since day one – weighed up the evidence of their effectiveness and come to the conclusion that they were next to useless and probably do more harm than good so I refused to wear one and I’ve not had so much as a sniffle since. I was to meet a few people who wore masks and didn’t like them but they didn’t have the courage not to wear one and claim exemption or even wear an exemption badge instead – if you read the government exemption rules pretty much everyone could be exempt if they wanted to – you even don’t have to wear a mask if it causes you any discomfort – I’ve seen mask-wearers hyperventilating due to the pressure of wearing a mask for long periods of time but the thought of walking into a store full of masked shoppers without a mask they just couldnt do so they put up with the discomfort and were relieved that they would’nt be reproached by the covid gestapo out there – so the social pressure to wear a mask was incredibly enormous and then you had the likes of Johnson, Gore and Hancock and the rest of parliament wearing masks like political props to not only spread the fear abut reinforce that social pressure to wear a mask – which only confirmed in my mind what i have long suspected from the start – that we are being governed by complete and utter morons.

Last edited 3 years ago by Ember von Drake-Dale 22
38
0
ebygum
ebygum
3 years ago

Just thinking how sad it is that a small common sense article has made me feel like a woman dying of thirst being given a glass of water! How god-awful life has become.

24
0
peyrole
peyrole
3 years ago

Excellent article.
But covid was preceeded by ‘climate change’ for 30+ years , this is when the ‘scientific method’ was abandoned quite deliberately. 30+ years of computer models, completely incapable of producing one year of accuracy. And now the IPCC are about to inflict even more outrageous forecasts on us.

20
0
Brett_McS
Brett_McS
3 years ago

Unfortunately, the medical field has a long history of quackery derived from unscientific correlations barely above the level of side-bar click bait. The Food Pyramid – which caused the obesity epidemic – would have to have been one of the worst. Cholesterol, fat scares – all based on click bait quackery. Same goes for Climate Doomsterism.

11
0
William Gruff
William Gruff
3 years ago

What a bizarre article; Hancock’s responsibilities were restricted to England only and he had no authority in Wales so why a Welsh academic should attack him for actions that have nothing to do with anyone in Wales is a mystery.

1
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wantok87
wantok87
3 years ago
Reply to  William Gruff

Bizmare response William Guff, unless you consider that opinion is determined by geographical location.

10
0
cubby
cubby
3 years ago
Reply to  William Gruff

What a bizarre comment. Hancock, Witty et al are national figures who were heard every day on the government’s propaganda channel and whose every utterance was reported in the government-supported daily press. Their influence on Johnson is probably immense.

11
0
Gladiatrix
Gladiatrix
3 years ago

The usual question applies: Did Professor Emeritus Fairclough raise any of these questions with the GMC or Royal Colleges? Did he send his criticisms of the IPSOS poll to IPSOS’s CEO? Did he contact the authorities at ICL and ask why they were still taking Ferguson seriously when they should have sacked him long ago? If not why not?
A lot of the past 18 months (!) could have been avoided if people like Professor Fairclough had raised an absolute stink in the right places.
I also emailed Toby directly a week or so ago pointing out that if LS had used the criminal (prosecution for misfeasance in public office) rather than the civil law (judicial review) against Hancock et al we might all have been better off. I am still waiting for a response.

3
0
wantok87
wantok87
3 years ago
Reply to  Gladiatrix

You would need to ask him but the presence of this web site,planet normal and spiked represents some of the few outlets whee dissemination I able to be voiced
Cancel culture prevails sadly

1
0
Sandra Barwick
Sandra Barwick
3 years ago
Reply to  Gladiatrix

If he did, he would have been ignored. Look what happened to the Oxford Professor of Evidence Based Medicine.
He has spoken up here for children, and he is to be applauded.
Also Mad Cow Disease … “which I had already seen amongst cannibals in Papua New Guinea” is the coolest sentence ever.

2
0
Gdog
Gdog
3 years ago

Great article can we get him into number 10 and ministry of health! He’d put SAGE to flight! Go get um Mr Fairclough!!

1
0
Smelly Melly
Smelly Melly
3 years ago

Unfortunately science has been politicised and if you want funding science has to toe the political orthodoxy line. Science was about questioning and discussion, it actively sort out opposition to any hypothesis and if there was 1 negative result to a theory then that theory wasn’t resilient. When Einstein published his work on relativity there was a counter paper called “100 scientists against Einstein”, Einstein quickly dismissed them by saying they only need one scientist to prove him wrong.

Politicians have taken something that was beautiful and have made it ugly. Unforgivable.

4
0
John Littler
John Littler
3 years ago

see all so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3lx6Scwfhg ,by John Campbell, for an example of a scientifically illiterate MP, in charge of the vaccination roll-out, refusing to consider a possible problem with the actual vaccination procedure which could inject AstraZeneca into a blood vessel rather than muscle resulting in fatal blood clots.

0
0
John Littler
John Littler
3 years ago

Very good article. See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3lx6Scwfhg

0
0
SomersetHoops
SomersetHoops
3 years ago

Why does the government listen to the incompetent, inexperienced scientists and guesswork modellers on the SAGE committee rather than people with a lifetime of clinical and scientific experience like this guy? Why do we have no politicians with scientific knowledge or entry to the scientific or current clinical community? Surely some medical knowledge or lifetime interest should be an absolute requirement for the health secretary. If that isn’t possible because people with those skills and abilities are too busy doing important work, it should be a necessary requirement to have e seriously competent person with those skills and currently using them to be advising the health secretary. It seems there are few members of the SAGE committee who have donned gown and gloves recently, if ever, and some of those who have, had advised against many of the government restrictions. Many of the people on the Sage Committee are like Whitty and Vallance whose chief skill seems to be distorting data to justify extremes of unnecessary restrictions are lacking balance in considering the deaths cased by these restrictions, which over time could easily exceed the number caused by the virus itself and have done untold destruction to many organisations which could have survived with a more honest and reasonable approach to dealing with Covid-19.

0
0

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