How can any scientists stand by this government now? | Richard Horton
The Cummings saga has made it plain that scientific advisers are shielding the government's collapsing reputation on coronavirus
Dominic Cummings predicted the events that have threatened both him and the government he serves. Writing on his blog in 2014, in an essay he called The Hollow Men, Cummings said: The people at the apex of political power (elected and unelected) are far from the best people in the world in terms of goals, intelligence, ethics, or competence ... No 10 will continue to hurtle from crisis to crisis with no priorities and no understanding of how to get things done ... the media will continue obsessing on the new rather than the important, and the public will continue to fume with rage."
Indeed, the public's rage against Cummings, Boris Johnson and the prime minister's lapdog cabinet seems to be growing day by day. The government's goals, intelligence, ethics and competence are all under scrutiny and have been found wanting. Yet a cordon sanitaire has been placed around Cummings. He must be protected at all costs.
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