A survey of experts working on the Pandemic has shown that the UK government's scientific and medical advisers have been subjected to abuse, intimidation and threatening behavior.
Dozens of UK advisers described incidents ranging from coordinated online attacks to death threats and acts of intimidation, such as photos being taken of their homes and shared online and suspicious packages arriving in the post.
Further harassment has included threats of violence, complaints to employers, offensive notes left on cars, and abuse shouted through the letterbox. The police have brought charges in a small number of cases when threats were identified.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has a professor. REUTERS/Alamy
Advisers weren't the only ones targeted. The abuse spilled over to their students, colleagues and family members. One adviser who works as a GP said that the surgery's receptionists had been subjected to vile rants from callers as a result of their advisory role.
A teacher blamed the adviser's child for the government's lockdown policy and repeatedly targeted the child. The child's exam grade depended on the teacher's assessment, so the family didn't make a formal complaint.
More than 100 scientists, doctors and other researchers were sent a survey by the Guardian to help them understand the advice ministers receive. The responses were not made public.
Almost all of the 42 respondents received abuse for their views on the science, government policy, or research findings after being quoted in the media or speaking at open events hosted by organizations such as the UK's various royal societies.
In an article for the Guardian today, Prof John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he and junior staff were targeted with abusive emails. He writes that if you mention vaccination in the media, there is likely to be a reaction. If the Daily Mail picks up one's comments, this will happen.
One of the advisers received a death threat on the social networking site, which was reported to the police, as well as a "tidal wave of abuse" whenever they appeared in the media. A doctor said that a lot of it is misogynistic. I have never experienced anything like this before. I am trying to stop people from dying.
Advisers are not involved in policy decisions, but that doesn't deter people who feel more threatened by the government's response to the Pandemic than the actual disease. Abuse peaks when advisers speak publicly about masks, vaccines, Covid treatments, circuit-breakers or lockdowns, meaning it is increasing with the spread of the Omicron variant.
At the beginning of the Pandemic last year, a surge in threatening behavior led government security experts to brief the advisers on how to protect themselves, including how to increase computer security and improve their personal safety by varying the time they traveled to work and the route they used, and checking under
Some advisers have had security reviews of their homes and businesses, alarms, and cameras linked to the local police station. Private security firms have been hired by a number of universities to make sure that experts operate safely and that protesters don't disrupt their work. Some sensitive material has been removed from the internet, but not always.
