10 Days That Changed Britain: "Heated" Debate Between Scientists Forced Boris Johnson To Act On Coronavirus

Britain’s leading epidemiologists ... extremely tense ... private — discussions among themselves, with the UK’s chief scientific advisor Patrick Vallance, and Boris Johnson’s government...no consensus...

While the scientific debate was raging... Johnson’s government ... criticised other countries ... taken more dramatic steps, claiming Britain was being “guided by the science” rather than politics... arguing ... home isolation of suspect cases ... was correct, despite almost every other European country taking a much tougher approach, and increasing alarm among SAGE experts...months or even a year of social distancing was simply not feasible, some in Johnson’s team still thought...

data from Italy... changed all that... NHS would indeed soon be overwhelmed if the UK’s “mitigation” strategy continued...Johnson’s own personal views on the role of the state ... a major factor... deep ideological reservations about turning Britain into an effective police state...

significant criticism... Johnson ... “outsourced” the government’s decision-making process to Vallance, the chief medical officer Chris Whitty, and a small team of scientific advisers... [but] the scientists themselves disagreed on what to do... then the political responsibility of Johnson and Number 10 to decide which scientists to back...Cummings and Vallance were “close allies” ...

culture ... Johnson’s Downing Street ... not helped ... implementing radical policy changes... personal style of some aides ... harder for issues to be raised internally...