A top scientist has accused the Government of misleading the public at its daily coronavirus briefings as he urged ministers to treat them with greater respect.
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter from Cambridge University claimed Downing Street’s “number theatre” on deaths and testing was “not trustworthy”.
The Government has been criticised for counting tests sent out by post to reach it’s 100,000-a-day target and for failing to give the full picture on the death toll.
Sir David said that it was “extraordinary” that ministers did not know how many people have had Covid-19 and there should have been more widespread testing from the start.
“Testing data is vital and testing has been slow. That is the one thing I will criticise the Government for,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr.
The eminent statistician insisted that international comparisons were valid as the UK’s death rate remained at least one of the worst in Europe - even though ministers had used his words to suggest they were not.
“What happened in this country is not inevitable, it doesn’t mean it had to happen,” he added.
Sir David said that while the public was hungry for “genuine information” they were being fed “number theatre” by ministers at Downing Street’s “frankly completely embarrassing” daily press conferences.
He said he wished data was being presented by people who know its “strengths and limitations” and could “treat the audience with respect”.
He added: “We get told lots of big numbers, precise numbers of tests being done - 96,878. Well, that’s not how many were done yesterday; it includes tests that were posted out.
“We’re told 31,587 people have died; no, they haven’t, it’s far more than that. I think this is actually not the trustworthy communication of statistics.
“The public out there who are broadly very supportive of the measures, they’re hungry for details, for facts, for genuine information, and yet they get fed this what I call ‘number theatre’.
“Which seems to be co-ordinated really much more by a No 10 communications team rather than genuinely trying to inform people about what’s going on.
“I just wish the data was being brought together and presented by people who really knew its strengths and limitations and could treat the audience with some respect.”
Sir David raised concerns about the lack of information on how many people have had the virus - saying that public anxiety should be “at least roughly proportional” to the personal risk they faced.
Among 10m children under 15 in England and Wales just two had died from coronavirus, while among 17m under-25s there had been 26 deaths recorded.
In comparison, more than 1% of those aged over 90 have so far died from Covid-19, in a four-week period.
“That is 10,000 times the risk of the younger people,” he said.
He added: “Obviously, I’m talking about risks to the individual themselves, we have to think about the potential for spreading the virus, and that’s absolutely vital.”
