We understand that while the chief scientific advisers from Scotland, Wales and N Ireland have been allowed to listen in on Sage meetings, they have been doing so as observers. Unlike Cummings and Warner, they were not allowed to ask questions, unless submitted in writing.

I'm hearing BBC and others repeating the Downing Street spin that Cummings was merely 'listening in' as an observer. Multiple attendees of Sage told the Guardian that both Cummings and Warner had been *participating* in meetings of the group as far back as February.

To fellow journalists, this isn't a Downing Street vs Guardian story. That's the story No10 spinners want you to tell. It is a story about the whether the secretive scientific group advising the Cabinet Office is independent from politics – and open with the public.