They were told in July that the worst case was avoidable - if their advice was followed. But in each case, Mr Johnson's government ignored the advice - and in each case had to perform u-turns as transmission rates rose. Last month Boris Johnson said his government had done "everything" it could to combat the virus and save lives. But asked if he thought these documents contradicted that claim, he appeared to say it had been ignored because scientists' advice - even his own SAGE scientists - was contradictory. "But there have been scientists have called for no lockdown, there have been scientists that have called for a complete lockdown throughout.

Source: Daily Mirror February 10, 2021 18:19 UTC