Revealed: Whitty Silenced Covid Ethics Advisers

Professor Sir Chris Whitty silenced government ethics advisers who warned about the impact of Covid policies. The Telegraph has more.

The Moral and Ethical Advisory Group (MEAG) was set up to advise Sir Chris, England’s Chief Medical Officer, and senior ministers on the complex policy questions expected to arise during the pandemic.

But the group fell out of favour after it raised concerns about the impact of lockdown on children, the vaccine rollout and Covid passports. At the height of the pandemic, Sir Chris told its co-chairman to stop putting its recommendations in writing.

An investigation by the Telegraph also revealed the existence of a memo that highlighted ethical issues with vaccinating healthy children but was “suppressed”.

MEAG was expected to have a “central role” in government decision-making at the highest level, according to sources familiar with its work at the time. But whistleblowers said it became “marginalised” and “sidelined” by ministers after it highlighted “unwelcome” concerns about Covid policies.

Members of the group grew “increasingly frustrated” as the pandemic went on, with one saying: “I think our deliberations were seen by key people to be unwelcome, and everyone closed ranks around that. It appears at some point MEAG was clamped down on and we were just not summoned.”

Whistleblowers said the committee was effectively “banned” from discussing the pandemic at a time when “the Department of Health wasn’t doing much else”.

So far, the Covid Inquiry has failed to examine its role despite being urged to do so twice, according to correspondence seen by the Telegraph.

One former member of MEAG said they were “astounded” that the group did not feature at all in the inquiry’s latest report, which was published last month and focused on decision-making and political governance.

Counting faith leaders, university professors and medical experts among its members, MEAG was set up to advise and counsel those at the heart of Whitehall on policy decisions that would be made throughout the pandemic.

The group was created to ensure that ministers and scientists were not operating in a moral vacuum, and that proper consideration was given to the complex ethical dilemmas and trade-offs when policies were drawn up. But it felt sidelined and silenced.

The Telegraph has examined the minutes of MEAG meetings throughout the pandemic, which show that, during the early stages of the outbreak, it was meeting regularly.

Marked “Official: Sensitive”, the minutes reveal how the group was increasingly disregarded before eventually being wound down.

At meetings during March and April 2020, it discussed its “reservations” about the far-reaching Covid Bill, ethical issues surrounding end-of-life care and funerals, and the shielding policy.

During summer 2020, after the first lockdown, MEAG debated how such measures had come at a cost, with some sections of society bearing the brunt more than others.

The group said more attention should be given to ensure certain groups, such as young people, were not “unintentionally overlooked by policymakers”.

By September 2020, committee members felt sidelined and discussed ways to “increase the visibility of MEAG” with a view to “securing greater influence over decision-making”.

One former member recalled how, after a positive start, the group’s role “fell off a cliff”, saying: “It became clear that the government didn’t want to listen to advice. It was frustrating, deeply frustrating.

“We tried hard to say ‘we have been mandated to do this work, and yet we are not being allowed to do it. We are coming across obstacles, left right and centre’. It just felt that we had been sidelined and, even though we were built into the structure, we were circumvented.”

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: Molly Kingsley, Arabella Skinner and Ben Kingsley brought this scandal to the attention of Daily Sceptic readers back in November 2023.