Covid: Government advisers sent suspicious packages

Scientists advising the government during the coronavirus pandemic have been sent suspicious packages from people who feel they are "making bad decisions".

Prof Calum Semple said he had been on the receiving end of a "particularly nasty" experience.

He has regularly appeared on television and radio to be quizzed on the virus.

The University of Liverpool professor told how scientists and others had "attracted adverse attention".

During a webinar hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine, Prof Semple, who sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), was asked about being targeted by an anti-vax group.

Prof Roger Kirby, president of the society and host of the session, asked about an incident in which somebody post something extremely abusive online.

Prof Semple said that was correct and added: "That was one particularly nasty event.

"There have been others since then and suspicious packages sent to Sage members and myself.

"This comes from both extremes - people that feel that we're making bad decisions and they don't appreciate that Sage is not a decision-making body."

He stressed that scientists advising the government were there to answer "exam questions from ministers or from chief scientific officers or chief medical officers", and to give their best estimates.

A spokesman for the Government Office for Science said security issues were taken seriously and Sage members would be offered "security advice and support" so they can continue to provide independent expert advice.

In July, a former estate agent was given a suspended sentence when he admitted a charge of assault by beating after England's chief medical officer was put in a headlock in a London park.

Prof Chris Whitty has also been forced to endure public harassment on previous occasions, having been confronted in a street in Oxford by a man accusing him of lying to the public about coronavirus and accosted outside Westminster.

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