Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies

National public health agency, Deep state milieu?

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies  link () Campfire Wiki Website
File:Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.jpg Unidentified image from a 14 March 2020 DoHS page about SAGE
Abbreviation	SAGE
Headquarters	London?
Interests	national security
Membership	Rebecca Allen, John Aston, Charles Bangham, Wendy Barclay, Jonathan Benger, Fliss Bennee, Allan Bennett, Phil Blythe, Chris Bonnell, Ian Boyd, Peter Bruce, Caroline Cake, Paul Cosford, Dominic Cummings, Andrew Curran, Gavin Dabrera, Ian Diamond, Yvonne Doyle, Deborah Dunn-Walters, John Edmunds, Jeremy Farrar, Kevin Fenton (SAGE), Michael Ferguson, Neil Ferguson, Aidan Fowler, Julia Gog, Robin Grimes, Ian Hall, David Halpern, Jenny Harries, Demis Hassabis, Andrew Hayward, Gideon Henderson, Peter Horby, Anne Johnson, Indra Joshi, Kamlesh Khunti, Ben Killingley, David Lalloo, Janet Lord, Theresa Marteau, Angela McLean, Jim McMenamin, Graham Medley, Laura Merson, Susan Michie, Christine Middlemiss, Andrew Morris, Paul Moss, Carole Mundell, Cath Noakes, Rob Orford, Michael Parker, Sharon Peacock, Alan Penn, Pasi Penttinen, Guy Poppy, Steve Powis, Mike Prentice, Osama Rahman, Venki Ramakrishnan, Andrew Rambaut, Tom Rodden, Brooke Rogers, Cathy Roth, Sheila Rowan, Dr. James Rubin, Harry Rutter, Calum Semple, David Seymour, Mike Short, Alaster Smith, Gregor Smith, Iyiola Solanke, David Spiegelhalter, Nicola Steedman, Patrick Vallance, Jonathan Van Tam, Russell Viner, Rhoswyn Walker, Mark Walport, Charlotte Watts, Chris Whitty, Mark Wilcox, Mark Woolhouse, Lucy Yardley, Ian Young, Maria Zambon
Secretive group with "about 60" members and an uncertain amount of influence over the UK government on certain topics, such as the UK Covid lockdown. Ian Boyd claimed that the group's membership must be kept secret to protect it from "dark forces".

Not to be confused with Independent SAGE, an adjacent and "unrelated"Template:Cn organisation

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is a secretive body which "advises" the UK government. In 2020 concern about the UK Covid lockdown has led to calls for increasing its transparency, such as public disclosure of its membership and/or deliberations. Answering MPs about the secrecy, Chris Whitty said he had no personal objection to publishing the membership, but that the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure had forbidden it because the group's meetings may involve matters of "national security".

There are members that are behavioural psychologists, experts on how to get people to comply.

Activities

The group reportedly met nine times in February 2020 and 10 times in March 2020.

COVID-19

Full article: COVID-19

In September 2020, SAGE suggested that over 90% of the UK population were still susceptible to COVID-19.Template:Cn

Secrecy

The membership of the group was earlier not public, but on May 4, 2020 the UK government revealed an almost complete list of members, except "2 participants [that] have not given permission to be named.". The meetings are secret and minutes are not published, a regimen more typical of a deep state milieu than an ordinary government body, leading to concerns of a hidden agenda.

Peter Openshaw advised SAGE in 2009 and has supported calls for a disclosure of its membership.

April 2020 Calls for Transparency

"Sense About Science said academics shaping Downing Street's policies should be identified, with the minutes of behind closed doors minutes published and the data made public." In April 2020 The Telegraph and The Guardian reported on the group. Ian Boyd stated that he remained "really adamant" that "one cannot have a public debate about what the science is saying and what it’s not saying."

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“The lack of complete transparency has echoes of the way the World Health Organisation operated during the 2009 swine flu crisis, when it refused to disclose the names of the scientists it relied on for advice.”
'Investigations Team' (24 April 2020) 

"Security concerns"

On April 15^th, MPs were increasingly interested in discovering the names, and the UK government was "under growing pressure to publish the names of all of the scientific experts." The UK government declined to do so, citing "security concerns" as a reason to keep the names secret, suggesting that members were afraid of having their names published because "death threats had been sent to members of advisory groups feeding into Sage".

"Names of scientific advisers should not be a state secret"

Jawad Iqbal wrote on 16 April 2020 in The Times that Names of scientific advisers should not be a state secret, while revealing that it had "about 60" members.

The behavioural Insights Team

Full article: Behavioural Insights Team

The UK's Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a.k.a. the "Nudge Unit", has been active in shaping public perception of COVID-19.

Exposure

On 24 April 2020, the Guardian "revealed the 23 attendees of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). They comprise 21 scientists and two Downing Street political advisers." On the same day, The Daily Telegraph named "more than a dozen of its members", including one name not given by the Guardian. Also on 24 April 2020 Diane Abbott tweeted: "Dominic Cummings and former data scientist for Vote Leave campaign on Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Does this explain how 'herd immunity' became policy?"

0n 29 April 2020 James Forsyth wrote in the Spectator that "I am informed that at that meeting Tim Gowers, a Cambridge maths professor and Fields Medal winner, and Demis Hassabis, the founder of the AI company Deep Mind, dialled in at Dominic Cummings’ request."

On 4 May 2020, the UK government named 50 members of SAGE, reportedly failing to name just two, who refused to give permission to be identified.

Criticism

In August 2020 Mark Woolhouse, a SAGE advisor, commented that "Lockdown was a panic measure and I believe history will say trying to control Covid-19 through lockdown was a monumental mistake on a global scale, the cure was worse than the disease."

Charles Walker MP has criticised SAGE for its lack of accountability.

References