Scientists must be free to communicate without politicians’ spin

Whether it's about Covid or badger culls, the science can be unclear. But the public must hear about it from the researchers not government press officers

Twenty years ago, when I set up the Science Media Centre, researchers were notably absent from the nation's airwaves. Frenzies about Frankenstein foods, designer babies and MMR may have gripped the media but most scientists put their heads down and tried to avoid controversy. The price was the British public's rejection of GM technologies and levels of MMR vaccinations that dropped to a dangerous low.

Today, researchers recognise it is not enough just to do great science - they must also communicate its implications. As a result, the UK now gets most of its science news directly from the best researchers, translated by our outstanding science correspondents.