AN expert who advises the Government on its Covid response has dismissed claims by Neil Oliver that the coronavirus lockdown was the "biggest single mistake in world history".
In an exclusive interview with The Herald, the historian who will soon be hosting a current affairs and interview programme on Andrew Neil's GB News, described the economic impact created by lockdowns.
Oliver said: "I’m apolitical, but over the lockdown I have had opinions. I think it is the biggest single mistake in world history, and I’m just horrified by the damage that has been done.
"Whoever lockdown has saved, I think by an order of magnitude others have been hurt.”
In the interview, he accepted that the initial lockdown was probably a good thing but said he knew a number of people that had been "ruined by it" due to a lack of economic support.
READ MORE: Neil Oliver: 'I'm in disbelief at the shambles Scotland has become'
Now, Professor Stephen Reicher of the University of St Andrews (above), a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B) which advises the UK Government on its pandemic response, has described the GB News hosts claims as "just plain wrong".
"I’ll leave aside how offensive this argument is, given all the awful and genocidal decisions in world history. The wording is plainly hyperbolic and is more about gaining attention than respecting the evidence," Reicher told The National.
"The point is that it is just plain wrong. The evidence points to the fact that those countries which acted early and acted hard did better, not just in terms of health, but also in terms of economy and civil liberties.
"Indeed when the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) came up with its 2021 list of most liveable cities 6 out of the top 10 were in Australia and New Zealand. Life is better all round when you get on top of this pandemic."
With a Herald subscription you can read our exclusive interview with Neil Oliver, where he talks Scottish independence and GB News.
Australia and New Zealand were quick to act on the spread of coronavirus and as such have been able to remain relatively open. Tougher lockdowns in Europe due to a slower response have seen most remain closed off for longer.
The most liveable cities list was released this week and its authors said the pandemic proved to be the defining factor this year.
Auckland in New Zealand topped this year's list with Wellington placing fourth. Adelaide was Australia's best-performing city at number three while Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane also up the top 10.
European cities fell off the top 10 with Austrian capital Vienna, which had led the list for several years, falling to 12th position. The German city of Hamburg fell 34 places to 47th on the list while London placed 60th, just behind New York (59th).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel