THE credibility of the UK Government’s decision-making on tackling the coronavirus outbreak and its transparency have been called into serious question after it emerged that Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, has attended the meetings of senior scientists advising ministers on the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Cummings was said to have been among 23 attendees at a key meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies[SAGE] on March 23; the day the Prime Minister announced the nationwide lockdown.

Ben Warner, a data scientist who worked with Mr Cummings on the Vote Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum, was also said to have been present.

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It was further claimed several attendees of SAGE had said both Mr Cummings and Mr Warner had been taking part in meetings of the group as far back as February.

No 10 insisted claims Mr Cummings was on or a member of SAGE were "not true" and dismissed them as "ludicrous". 

In a strongly worded statement, a Downing St spokesman confirmed that Mr Cummings and Dr Warner had attended or listened in to SAGE meetings but denied they had in any way affected the group's advice.

"SAGE provides independent scientific advice to the Government. Political advisers have no role in this," insisted the spokesman.

"The scientists on SAGE are among the most eminent in their fields. It is factually wrong and damaging to sensible public debate to imply their advice is affected by Government advisers listening to discussions."

The spokesman said Mr Cummings and Dr Warner had been seeking to better understand the scientific debate around coronavirus as well as the limits as to how science and data could assist Government decision-making.

"Occasionally, they ask questions or offer help when scientists mention problems in Whitehall," he added.

However, Sir David King, a former Government chief scientific adviser, said he was "shocked" to find that there were political advisers involved in SAGE meetings.

"If you are giving science advice, your advice should be free of any political bias. That is just so critically important," he told the Guardian.

Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, tweeted: "If it is true that Dominic Cummings attended meetings of SAGE, then the Government led by Boris Johnson has utterly corrupted independent scientific advice."

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said the disclosure that Mr Cummings had been attending meetings of the Government’s top scientific advisers raised "significant questions" about the credibility of Government decision-making.

"Dominic Cummings has no place on the Government's scientific advisory group on the coronavirus," declared the Shadow Health Secretary.

“He is a political adviser, not a medical or scientific expert. If the public are to have confidence in the Sage, the Government must make clear Dominic Cummings can no longer participate or attend.”

His Labour colleague David Lammy tweeted: "SAGE is for scientific experts not political advisers. Dominic Cummings must be booted out of the group immediately and never allowed back."

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Sir Ed Davey, the acting Liberal Democrat leader, said the disclosure underlined the need for a public inquiry into the Government's handling of the pandemic.

"The public needs to have confidence that it is expert advice that is guiding government decisions, not dubious political advisers. The lack of transparency is an absolute outrage," he said.

"To get to the truth and to give Boris Johnson the opportunity to answer some serious questions, it is clear that there will need to be an independent inquiry to officially review the Government's response to the pandemic," added the London MP.

The SNP's Joanna Cherry tweeted: "It’s pretty clear now why UK Govt wouldn’t say who was on #SAGE. The 'following the science' mantra is revealed for the cop out it is.

"Politicians take advice then take decisions. Politicians have agency & Cummings is up to his neck in this fiasco," added the Edinburgh MP.

Green MP Caroline Lucas also took to social media, saying: "So much for 'independent' scientific advice...No wonder the Government wanted to keep the membership of SAGE secret..."

The Government has never released a list of SAGE members or attendees, although individual members can disclose they are part of the group.

Earlier this month in a letter to Parliament, Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser who chairs SAGE, said the decision not to disclose its membership was based on advice from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure[CPNI].

He said that it helped safeguard the personal security of members while protecting them from "lobbying and other forms of unwanted influence which may hinder their ability to give impartial advice".

However, Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, who is also a member of SAGE, told MPs on Friday that neither he nor Sir Patrick had any objection "in principle" to details of the membership being released.

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Giving evidence to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, he said the CPNI advice was based on the fact SAGE was a sub-committee of Cobra - the Government's civil contingencies committee - and sometimes dealt with security-related issues.