Critics of Covid lockdowns had considerable support among scientists but academics stayed silent for fear it could damage their careers, an expert has said.
Professor Robert Dingwall claims that those who voiced opinions going against the consensus during the pandemic ‘paid a price for trying to voice loyal opposition’.
The former Government Covid advisor said those in scientific circles who had concerns about the impact of lockdowns on society were cowed by the potential consequences they could face professionally.
In the years that have followed the pandemic concerns have been raised about how the closing of schools affected children’s education, while NHS waiting lists for treatment have soared.
It comes as a new survey found that almost 70 per cent of British academics say they believe more thought should have been given to how shutting down the country would impact society.
Customers line up in a socially distanced queue outside a branch of the Nationwide Building Society in Worcester in September 2020
Then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock answers questions from the media in a Covid briefing at Downing Street in March 2020
The survey of 198 anonymous UK-based scientists, conducted by The Telegraph and Censuswide, found that many had reservations about the implementation of a nationwide shutdown in response to the spread of Covid.
When asked whether they thought ‘the Government paid sufficient attention to the long-term damage of lockdowns’, 68 per cent said they did not.
Only 19 per cent said they thought the ‘Government paid sufficient attention’ to this before implementing the policy.
Those who were surveyed were also critical of how the Government got its message across to the public, with 70 per cent saying they thought it was ‘not transparent and not well communicated’.
However, a majority of scientists said they thought the decisions that the Government made were transparent and well communicated.
They also backed the data used as a base for decisions around Covid policy, with 70 per cent saying the effectiveness of the modelling used was ‘excellent’, ‘good’ or ‘average’.
One expert said the results of the survey showed there was less of a consensus on lockdowns than was portrayed to the public at the time.
Prof Robert Dingwall, a former government Covid adviser, from Nottingham Trent University, told The Telegraph: ‘It was always clear to those of us who were able to make evidence-based criticisms of ‘official science’ and government actions, that we enjoyed considerable tacit support in the scientific community.
‘This was, however, muted by concerns about loss of patronage, access to research grants and difficulty in publication as the cost of speaking out.
‘Others certainly paid a price for trying to voice loyal opposition. I don’t blame anyone for keeping their head down if they had a career to build, a family to support or a preference for a quiet life.’
After pandemic NHS waiting lists soared to record highs, with more than 120,000 patients thought to have died while waiting for operations and procedures in 2022.
One Tory MP who was a critic of lockdowns during the pandemic said he thought the ‘lack of an open and science-led conversation during the crisis was… disturbing’.
Bob Seely told The Telegraph: ‘At the time we were, understandably, focused on immediate risk. However, it was also clear that there was precious little thought as to the long-term damage to a society.
‘Schools should never have been shut. We are seeing a generation of young people damaged. There was too much politics from some scientists.’
Professor Robert Dingwall claims there was ‘considerable tacit support’ for people questioning lockdown within the scientific community
A man wearing a face mask crosses the road as he walks through central Manchester in April 2020
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told The Telegraph: ‘Throughout the pandemic, the Government acted to save lives and livelihoods, preventing the NHS being overwhelmed, and delivered a world-leading vaccine rollout which protected millions.
‘We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and are committed to learning from the Covid-19 inquiry’s findings, which will play a key role in informing the Government’s planning and preparations for the future.’
Last year charities and experts blasted the Government for the ‘preventable’ harm caused to children during lockdown.
The Children’s Rights Organisations alliance claimed social distancing and the closure of schools and playgrounds wreaked ‘long-lasting and era-defining’ effects on young people’s mental health.
The group was set up to give evidence to the Covid Inquiry and includes charities Save the Children, Just for Kids Law and the Children’s Rights Alliance of England.
The report What About The Children? argues ‘the worst impacts of the pandemic for children could have been prevented’.
It describes the pandemic as ‘years of lost learning, lost freedoms and lost hope’.
The document accuses ministers of failing to consider children’s rights when deciding how to contain the virus, while numbers of youngsters seeking mental health support has surged from 12.1 per cent in 2017 to 17.8 per cent in 2022.
Standards in reading, writing and maths by the end of primary school also dropped from a 65 per cent pass rate in 2018-19 to 59 per cent in 2022-23.
Former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield who was in post during the first year of the pandemic said that the Government had questions to answer.
She said: ‘This report sets out in very stark terms how children were frequently at the back of the queue when the Government made its biggest decisions about lockdown and reopening the economy.
‘Three years on, and many children and families are paying the price for the mistakes that were made. So many of the long-term problems arising from Covid could have been alleviated, or even prevented altogether, had the interests of children been made a top priority by the Government. This must never happen again.’
A Department for Education spokesman said at the time: ‘Time in school is vital for a child’s education, well-being and future life chances. We know children were amongst those most affected by the pandemic, and we are helping them catch up academically as well as socially.
‘We have made £5 billion available to help pupils recover from the impact of the pandemic, including over £1.5 billion for the National Tutoring Programme and 16-19 Tuition Fund, which have supported millions of students to catch up on lost learning.’