Have just spoken to Sir Bob Kerslake, former Head of the Civil Service. He told me that if Cummings is a full member of SAGE: “it’s both surprising and concerning. The risk is the government is leading the science when it’s supposed to be the other way round.”

Not everyone agrees it’s a big deal though, see below. All will boil down to precise nature of Cummings’ membership. Of course, we can’t know because minutes aren’t published. https://twitter.com/damiangreen/status/1253753463558811650?s=21 https://twitter.com/damiangreen/status/1253753463558811650

NEW: Downing St denies Guardian story- https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1253789230716915712?s=20