It’s been revealed that SAGE scientist Neil Ferguson has resigned from the scientific advisory group after he was caught breaking lockdown to visit his partner.
The health secretary was left “speechless” by his actions, as Neil was one of the main scientists who supported the implementation of the lockdown.
“Professor Ferguson is a very eminent and impressive scientist and the science that he has done has been an important part of what we’ve listened to,” the health secretary said.
“I think he took the right decision to resign.”
And when asked about whether the scientists should have legal action taken against him, Mr Hancock added: “It’s a matter for the police, as a government minister I’m not allowed to get involved in the operational decisions of police matters.
“But I think the social distancing rules are very important and people should follow them.”
He added: “They’ll take their decisions independently from ministers – that’s quite right, it’s always been like that.
“And that’s why, even though I’ve got a clear answer to what I think, as a minister, the way we run the police is that they make decisions like this.
“So I give them their space to make that decision, but I think he took the right decision to resign.”
This isn’t the first scientific advisor to resign due to not being able to stick to the rules they themselves imposed. Last month, Dr Catherine Calderwood Scotland’s former chief medical officer, resigned and was issued with a police warning after she made 2 visits to her second home.
