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Several scientific advisers have criticized the Boris Johnson government for trying to censor their proposals against the coronavirus in an official report. As revealed by 'The Guardian', at least a page and a half with recommendations for a more strict confinement than that applied on March 23 was literally crossed out before the report of the group SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) was released.

The censored report is part of a series of documents that have come to light after criticism of Johnson for the lack of transparency in the strategy for the epidemic. Until this week, the government even kept secret some of the names of the 50 members of the SAGE group, whose recommendations are raised directly to the Cobra emergency cabinet.

"This government has failed to admit criticism, when it is obvious that mistakes were made," admitted one of the scientific advisers to The Guardian, who preferred not to reveal his name. "If you want the trust of the population, you have to raise your hand and explain why it happened, and admit that you regret it and that you have learned from mistakes, instead of continuing to say 'we have done a fantastic job.'"

The United Kingdom, with 30,615 deaths , has become the first European country by number of deaths during the epidemic. In his first appearance in Parliament in a month and a half -after having contracted the virus and having gone through the ICU of the St. Thomas hospital- the 'premier' Boris Johnson assured that "it is early to make international comparisons" and that "already there will be time to look back and see if something went wrong. "

The censored report, dated April 1, included recommendations to toughen confinement , including reducing the time Britons could spend outside their homes exercising or shopping, and tighter fines than the £ 60 reduced to 30 (68 and 34 euros) that the police imposed for violating the rules of social distance.

A spokesman for the Government Scientific Office assured 'The Guardian' that the corrections (the studs, rather) in the leaked document was because the recommended policies were still under consideration. However, internal censorship has created such unease in the SAGE committee that more than one member has raised the resignation .

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial College actually stepped down from the SAGE committee this week after learning that he had twice violated confinement to meet secretly with his mistress, Antonia Staats. The exclusive, published by the pro-government newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph', is interpreted as a possible internal "vendetta" and as a smokescreen , the same day that the United Kingdom became the European country with the most deaths by coronavirus.

Stephen Reicher, a member of the SAGE group and professor of Social Psychology at St. Andrews, accused the Government on Twitter of using "Stalinist" methods to censor the information . "The greatest asset we have in this crisis is the confidence of the population," Reicher wrote. "If you want confidence, you have to show openness. This is reminiscent of Stalinist Russia. It doesn't look good."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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