Government

Browse the articles related to this topic below.

The importance of courage – Spiked

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 24 April 2020

Science is not a good guide for society. Of course science is essential to our understanding of the world and to the creation of the new insights, technologies and treatments our societies need. But it cannot tell us what is best for our societies in political, moral or economic terms…

If it is true that Boris put the country into lockdown partly in response to media pressure, then the media themselves may have a lot of questions to answer about the damage currently being done by this unprecedented freeze on working life and the economy.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/04/24/the-importance-of-courage/

Tags COVID-19, Economy, Government, Lockdown, Media, Modelling, Politics, Response, SAGE, Science, Spiked, Technocracy, UK, Unemployment

News

The significant extension of the Coronavirus restriction on movement – and why it is concerning – David Allen Green

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 24 April 2020

Criminalising otherwise normal social activity should have the greatest possible mandate by parliament before it has effect, not be slipped out with no parliamentary approval at all.
David Allen Green is a commentator about law and policy and a contributing editor at the Financial Times.

The significant extension of the Coronavirus restriction on movement – and why it is concerning

Tags Civil Liberties, COVID-19, David Allen Green, Government, Law, Politics, UK

Videos

Chris Whitty, UK Chief Medical Officer, received £31million pounds of funding from The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 24 April 2020

Some interesting links between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer and advisor to the UK government), Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer and advisor to the UK government, received £31million pounds of funding from The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation in 2008 and now takes Bill Gates public health policy’s directly to government.

Tags Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Corruption, COVID-19, Dr Andrew Preston, Dr Ian Hudson, Dr. Fauci, Government, GSK, MHRA, Professor Chris Whitty, UK, UK Vaccine Network, Vaccination, WHO, Zed Phoenix

News

Squabbling scientists have shocked ministers – The Spectator

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 23 April 2020

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/squabbling-scientists-have-shocked-ministers

Tags COVID-19, Government, Politics, Response, Science, Technocracy, The Spectator, UK

Publications

SPARS Pandemic Scenario – Center for Health Security

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 23 April 2020

Project completed: October 2017

The Center’s SPARS Pandemic exercise narrative comprises a futuristic scenario that illustrates communication dilemmas concerning medical countermeasures (MCMs) that could plausibly emerge in the not-so-distant future. Its purpose is to prompt users, both individually and in discussion with others, to imagine the dynamic and oftentimes conflicted circumstances in which communication around emergency MCM development, distribution, and uptake takes place. While engaged with a rigorous simulated health emergency, scenario readers have the opportunity to mentally “rehearse” responses while also weighing the implications of their actions. At the same time, readers have a chance to consider what potential measures implemented in today’s environment might avert comparable communication dilemmas or classes of dilemmas in the future.

Link to PDF: https://archive.today/2022.12.31-040215/https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2017/spars-pandemic-scenario.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20200423182829/https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/Center-projects/completed-projects/spars-pandemic-scenario.html

Tags Center for Health Security, COVID-19, Disinformation, Government, Johns Hopkins University, Media, Medical Countermeasures, Misinformation, Policy, Propaganda, Public Health, Simulations, SPARS

News

A disproportionate interference with rights and freedoms: Coronavirus regulations and the ECHR

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 21 April 2020

The lockdown measures imposed by the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations are some of the most extreme restrictions on fundamental freedoms imposed in the modern era. They are a disproportionate interference with the rights and freedoms protected by the European Convention on Human Rights and therefore unlawful.

This is an executive summary of a more in-depth article which is available from the link below. Inevitably, the summary simplifies the detailed arguments and considerations.

Read the article in full: A disproportionate interference with rights and freedoms: Coronavirus Regulations and the ECHR

A disproportionate interference with rights and freedoms: Coronavirus regulations and the ECHR

Tags Civil Liberties, COVID-19, European Convention on Human Rights, Field Court Chambers, Government, Law, Response, UK

News Opinion

Do face masks work? A note on the evidence – Dr. John Lee, The Spectator

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 20 April 2020

[D]oes any of what is out there add up to a watertight case for compelling people to wear masks in public or at work (outside a healthcare setting)? The threshold for compulsion must surely be higher than ‘maybe’ and ‘perhaps’. But if it really is the case that the threshold for regulatory compulsion is being approached, it should be a simple matter for our scientific advisors to present it to us and allow time for it to be critically discussed in relation to a real-world setting, before government imposes measures upon us all.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/face-masks-should-there-be-a-cover-up-

Tags Civil Liberties, Dr. John Lee, Face Masks, Government, Law, The Spectator, UK

Publications

Corruption in global health: the open secret – The Lancet (2019)

Post author By EvidenceNotFear
Post date 18 April 2020

Corruption is embedded in health systems. Throughout my life—as a researcher, public health worker, and a Minister of Health—I have been able to see entrenched dishonesty and fraud. But despite being one of the most important barriers to implementing universal health coverage around the world, corruption is rarely openly discussed. In this Lecture, I outline the magnitude of the problem of corruption, how it started, and what is happening now. I also outline people’s fears around the topic, what is needed to address corruption, and the responsibilities of the academic and research communities in all countries, irrespective of their level of economic development. Policy makers, researchers, and funders need to think about corruption as an important area of research in the same way we think about diseases. If we are really aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure healthy lives for all, corruption in global health must no longer be an open secret.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32527-9/fulltext