The British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson was on the cover of many of the country’s right-wing tabloids on Wednesday. On Tuesday the broadsheet Telegraph reported that a romantic partner had been visiting Ferguson, who lobbied Boris Johnson for a national lockdown, at his London home. Ferguson later resigned from his role as a government adviser on the coronavirus crisis, telling The Telegraph, “I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action.”
“I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic,” he added. “The government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us.”
On Wednesday the BBC reported that Ferguson won’t face police action: Scotland Yard said his conduct was “plainly disappointing” but won’t issue a fine, and that he “has taken responsibility” by resigning.
The story of a scientist violating the guidelines he’d pushed for was a welcome pretext for the likes of the Daily Mail to try to discredit the lockdown more generally, and also for Elon Musk, who’s described shutdowns like the one in the United Kingdom as “fascist.” Those trawling the billionaire’s tweets for information about his and Grimes’s newborn baby, X Æ A-12, could also see that, in response to a tweet from the Fox-adored coronavirus contrarian Alex Berenson, Musk didn’t let the news go to waste either:
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