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Rishi Sunak’s criticism of the covid scientists got the takedowns it deserves – 16 favourites
An increasingly desperate Rishi Sunak, underdog in the prime-ministerial race, is actively courting the anti-lockdown lobby with his latest attempt to gain ground on Liz Truss.
Sunak says it was a mistake to ‘empower scientists’ during Covid pandemic https://t.co/mJa8YNnd0E
— The Guardian (@guardian) August 24, 2022
He paints himself as almost a lone voice of reason against the tyrannical scientists – many of whom complained at the time and since that they were largely ignored by the government.
With echoes of Michael Gove’s Brexit bleat of ‘We’ve had enough of experts’ ringing in their ears, these people had Sunak’s card marked.
1.
Perfectly normal morning in a perfectly normal country governed by perfectly normal people. https://t.co/J6tQO7B5fv
— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) August 25, 2022
2.
It’s true, Rishi was always going on at me to ignore Chris Whitty and listen to Right Said Fred. https://t.co/DR2wZpId2U
— Parody Boris (@Parody_PM) August 25, 2022
3.
Sunak notably didn't consult scientists before his calamitous "eat out to help out" scheme, which led to increased infections. People died because Sunak didn't want scientists to tell him it was a dumb idea. https://t.co/CpJ7MpbeeN
— Ian Betteridge 🇺🇦 (@ianbetteridge) August 25, 2022
4.
empowered scientists build time machine to give tory mp a wedgie every day of his life
— Chris Boyd 🇬🇧🇵🇭🇺🇦 (@paperghost) August 25, 2022
5.
Hard to properly encapsulate how angry this makes me. From one of the ministers responsible for making sure lockdowns were too late, over and over again, and therefore had to go on much longer than they would have otherwise needed to. https://t.co/IPtizctaOk
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) August 25, 2022
6.
if there's one lesson of a pandemic that saw scientists create effective vaccines for an entirely new disease within a year while politicians argued about whether scotch eggs are a meal it's that scientists should shut the fuck up more https://t.co/knwZ0FYEjr
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) August 25, 2022
7.
Um, I have news for you… we weren't 'empowered'. The govt (which you are a part of) continued to make policies which had no basis in science, and killed >200,000 people & disabled hundreds of thousands while we screamed helplessly at every step. pic.twitter.com/Lc8OJiEeCI
— Dr. Deepti Gurdasani (@dgurdasani1) August 25, 2022
8.
BREAKING: Rishi Sunak has stated it was a "mistake to empower scientists during the pandemic". Everyone knows that when a deadly disease threatens to kill millions of people, it's best to ignore epidemiologists and listen to experts like the Coast Guy x
— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@BBCLauraKT) August 25, 2022
9.
In the latest sorry chapter in his doomed attempt to become Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has said experts were given too much say on efforts to curb the spread of covid. Sunak’s contribution was to spend £850m encouraging people to mix indoors…https://t.co/1ORxDniOzO
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) August 25, 2022