A scientist has said the new coronavirus variant should be treated as a “new pandemic within a pandemic”. Prof Michie, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said current lockdown rules were not enough to tackle the more infectious variant of Covid-19, which Boris Johnson revealed may be associated with “a higher degree of mortality”. The Sage meetings now are enormous with large numbers of people from other government departments, from Public Health England, and political advisers. What was the most crucial thing you think they ignored?The consistent message from us to government has been that, to maximise the adherence of the population, you need to build up trust. And so I supported what Chris Whitty was saying and what the government was saying. The thinking at that time was that if you prevent crowds going to these outdoor events, people will go and watch them in pubs. Susan Michie is a professor of health psychology and director of the Center for Behavior Change, University College London. Specifically, we said bars and pubs and other indoor high-risk places should not be open. Professor Susan Michie. Coronavirus: Cummings row 'undermines trust in government and more people will die' - scientist. At the start the government kept saying “we are following the science”. Why do you think there was an apparently instinctive reluctance not to just go along with World Health Organization advice?I think there are now very few scientists who would question the fact that we should have locked down earlier and harder. Prof Michie described nurseries and places of worship, which are both allowed to remain open during lockdown, as “superspreading events”, and said she had heard from a lot of people who are “really distraught” about going to work. Boris Johnson warned … For some Britons, the stiff upper lip is starting to wobble. Professor Susan Michie, who sits on one of the government’s Sage subcommittees, said people were being needlessly driven into workplaces amid a … David Icke: Susan Michie, a professor of psychology advising the government on ‘Covid’ measures and a member of the Communist Party, says it’s wrong to say that schools are ‘safe’ – it’s wrong because schools being ‘safe’ doesn’t frighten people and it’s her job to keep them terrified The psychologist and member of Independent Sage on the flaws in the Conservative government’s response to Covid-19, and its failure to build trust through honest communication, Last modified on Sun 20 Sep 2020 08.14 EDT. We should have had outdoor summer camps for schoolchildren, should have brought back retired teachers in the way that we brought back doctors and nurses, and should have utilised the many empty buildings so we could create proper distancing for schools. Sometimes Susan goes by various nicknames including Susan Michie Mitsuyoshi and Susan M Mitsuyoshi. Do you think there was a subconscious sense of second guessing – of trying to meet them halfway in the advice given, in order at least to get something done?No, we draw on published evidence, and on expert consensus where there isn’t evidence. Where do you think we will be in six months’ time. Susan Michie, a professor of health psychology at University College London and a government adviser, said “having more things open sends a … It doesn’t appear to me that they’ve read the advice. The fact remains that changing behaviour is at the heart of how to get out of this pandemic and behavioural scientists have not been used as they could have been. However, what I do think is a completely different situation is what’s been happening over these past two months, over July and August. That generally meaningless mantra was a concern to many of us, because we thought we might be being set up to blame if things went wrong. Certainly not since the “Stay Alert” type messaging. What happens in a crisis routinely, the default is to trust the leadership. These offers and promises are just a wing and a prayer in the hope it will make people feel better. Professor Susan Michie, director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at UCL, said an “overwhelming” number of people were sticking to lockdown rules as she questioned how Government messaging was being targeted at the public. Nobody needs a “world-beating app” – just one that works. Glasziou and Michie … The member of Independent Sage and government adviser on Health Psychology told LBC's Matt Frei that "delays and last minute decisions" over whether schools would be open are "really difficult for everyone." I guess when the inevitable inquiry eventually happens, it will focus on those early weeks in the middle of March, when infection was rife, but we were slow to lock down. Susan Michie, 65, is a professor of health psychology at University College London and leader of the Human Behaviour Change project funded by the Wellcome Trust. Sage and the scientific community knew from the beginning that they were dealing with a government that had set itself against “experts” and had just been elected on a manifesto full of non-evidence-based promises. Why do you think that is?I’m not going to get into the politics of it. Glasziou and Michie are among the founders of the BESSI collaboration. Susan Michie is a Marxist campaigner who has managed to get herself on not only the activist dominated fake SAGE, she is also on the official SAGE. And at the beginning, I was very uncomfortable about these events going ahead. Communist Party Leader Susan Michie (left) said recently that her party would be working flat out to get Jeremy Corby into Downing Street Ms Michie's father, … On what restrictions she would like to see, Prof Michie said: “Do what we did in March but consider are there other things we could tighten? Professor Susan Michie, a psychologist with SPI-B of SAGE, speaking on LBC Radio with Andrew Castle on 4 October 2020, declared how the population had been complacent by not following COVID–19 regulations. I stopped because there was too much of a contradiction between what I thought and what was being said and done. Professor Susan Michie has told LBC it is wrong to say schools are "safe" as millions of pupils face staying at home from January 4. Professor Susan Michie insisted that "the important thing is the government listens to what the scientists are saying," and this leads their pandemic response. I was on Sage in 2009 when I think there were just 14 scientists, during the H1N1 pandemic. I imagine you fear the worst…I don’t know what the worst is. (Error Code: 100013) Professor Susan Michie has said Britain is in a "national crisis" as COVID-19 cases rapidly increase. The current messages that pitch the economy against health are so wrong. We’ve probably published 60 or 70 papers over the past six months. A SCIENTIFIC Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) member has warned that a lack of clear communication could be the thing to completely throw off social-distancing measures. Susan Michie is a professor of health psychology and director of the Center for Behavior Change, University College London. In the long run, that doesn’t work. Political advisers now have huge amounts of power. Thomas's personal network of family, friends, associates & neighbors include Susan Poel, William Mcfarland, Marilyn Williams, William Russell and Ladena Williams. Taking into account various assets, Thomas's net worth is greater than $100,000 - $249,999; and makes between $20 - 29,999 a year. Claimed Labour antisemitism stories were ‘weaponised religion’ being stoked by “Steve Bannon politics“ Do you think, with hindsight, we should have been more far concerned with direct consequences, rather than possible knock-on behaviours?I do. How important was behavioural thinking in the advice given to government by Sage initially. Britons could be asked to wear masks in shops and on public transport as part of an easing of lockdown measures, a leading Government adviser has suggested. Susan Michie is a professor of health psychology and director of the Center for Behavior Change, University College London. LONDON (AP) — Faced with the spread of COVID-19, the U.K. is advising its citizens to keep calm and carry on. The situation was so serious at the beginning that you wanted to give the government, in a sense, a chance to get it right?The population was prepared to do that too. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. She has been part of the Covid-19 behavioural science team, a sub-group of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). Do you think Sage could have been more robust in calling that out?It’s a very difficult situation. “The better the lockdown is now the shorter it will be. Obviously, PHE didn’t exist in 2009. Why has that changed?I don’t know. They wasted all that time. Before moving to Susan's current city of Honolulu, HI, Susan lived in Koko Head HI. They seem to have a pathological fear of owning mistakes. Professors Stephen Reicher, Susan Michie and Robert West say efforts to … 0:27. A scientist advising the Government on coronavirus has called for tighter lockdown restrictions, describing the current rules as “the problem” amid rising infections and deaths. *Free event with SAGE scientist - TONIGHT* Sign up to join us with Professor Susan Michie who serves on the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)! Earlier in the week, the behavioural psychologist and well-heeled political activist Professor Susan Michie of SAGE and ‘Independent Sage’ tried to terrify us still further by saying that going into non-essential shops was like playing “Russian roulette.” Susan Michie, who sits on … They went to pubs and bars. There is only one way of getting the economy back on track and that is to consistently do all the things necessary to drive transmission of the virus down. It comes after the Government launched a new advert that asks people to “look in the eyes” of frontline medical workers and Covid-19 patients and tells them to stay at home. Susan Michie, professor of health psychology at University College London, said there is still "a lot of household contact" and that the "wide definition of critical workers" means "30-50% of (school) classes (are) full-up". I don’t know. Government scientists and behaviour experts have rejected suggestions that the rise in Covid-19 infections is a result of the public flouting social distancing rules. “Make a really effective test, trace and isolate system so when inevitable outbreaks occur there’s a system there that can manage it and prevent it getting out of control again.”. Susan Michie: 'Bars and pubs and other high-risk places should not be open', Prof Susan Michie: ‘One of the worst things leaders can do is to start to blame others when things go wrong.’, usan Michie, 65, is a professor of health psychology at University College London and leader of the, “world-beating app” – just one that works. Susan Michie says poor adherence is down to 'distrust of the system' ... Mayor Andy Burnham says he and GM leaders are not playing politics. People might speculate about the reasons – British exceptionalism, the Tory ideology of keeping businesses going at all costs, that we were putting too much emphasis on influenza models. But I would say, one of the worst things leaders can do in terms of trust is to start to blame others when things go wrong. The very much partisan members of the shadow SAGE group include: Professor Susan Michie, a 40-year-long member of the British Communist Party, who donated £14,000 to … Glasziou and Michie are among the founders of the BESSI collaboration. Prof. Susan Michie, who advises the government on the pandemic response, fears reopening sports to fans — particularly indoor venues — could lead to a rise in virus cases and another lockdown. It’s a small group (with a small behavioural advisory group), so much more workable, and able to communicate directly with the public and the media. Castle mentioned all the businesses going bust and the rising unemployment. We had to sign something saying we won’t talk about anything that happens within Sage meetings. A further 1,401 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, the Government announced, while a further 40,261 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus were recorded in the UK, bringing the total number to 3,583,907. Member of the British Communist Party of 40 years; Donated £14,000 to the Labour Party under Corbyn; Wife of former Corbyn SpAd Andrew Murray; Mother of Labour’s Head of Complaints Laura Murray; Dr Zubaida Haque. “But actually all the data show that the overwhelming number of people are sticking to the rules with one exception which is self-isolation. Public health specialists who sit on SAGE, independent SAGE or have won awards in their field talk to SKWAWKBOX about coronavirus, variants, the tier system and more L-R: Prof Susan Michie of SAGE and Independent SAGE; Prof Kailash Chand, former BMA deputy chair; public health leader Prof Gabriel Scally of Independent SAGE Tonight's Skwawk Talk… Susan Michie is a professor of health psychology and director of the Center for Behavior Change, University College London. S usan Michie, 65, is a professor of health psychology at University College London and leader of the Human Behaviour Change project funded by … I have to say I haven’t seen very much of that coming through in terms of the government’s response. It was a very independent, science-driven effort. I was delighted to be invited. She advocated for a much stricter lockdown, and possibly even moreso than the first lockdown in March last year. She also sits on the independent Sage committee chaired by Sir David King. How interested were they in that aspect of the response?The behavioural science advisory group is more than 30 people from many different disciplinary backgrounds, and types of expertise, many of them world leaders in their areas. None of that was done. We don’t need Operation Moonshot and hundreds of millions of pounds wasted on private test-and-trace contractors when there was an existing local public health infrastructure with a good track record. Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article. In terms of the false promises, the government didn’t have to make them. It was probably a bit of everything. That means direct, honest and open communication and taking responsibility for things when they go wrong. And I remember that interview. I think there has been a sense that advice and decisions happen behind the scenes. Professor Susan Michie said current lockdown measures are ‘the problem’ and not people who aren’t sticking to the rules. I was looking at an interview you did with Andrew Neil at that time, when you were concerned about the unintended consequences of, for example, cancelling sporting events. Was that delay based on a hunch about the British context – the British character – that we couldn’t go too far too fast? Susan Michie is an adviser on the government’s Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours. The news of a vaccine “may be making people feel complacent” about lockdown rules, a government scientific adviser has warned. “In fact I would say that it’s not so much people not sticking to the rules, but it’s the rules themselves that are the problem.”. Now, they have even stopped saying that. Glasziou and Michie … 1 shares Read Article. Professor Susan Michie said current lockdown measures are ‘the problem’ and not people who aren’t sticking to the rules. But this prime minister has built his career on the fact that, in the short term, those vast empty promises do appear to work. But I also knew that trusted leadership was really important in terms of adherence. We now do have the benefit of hindsight and learning from the rest of the world. Should we not spend more time addressing that quite cynical, irrational, tribal idea of human motivation?The motivations of this government appear to be quite ideological and that’s a whole other conversation. “I think we should throw everything we can at really driving transmission down to a low level. Susan Fiona Dorinthea Michie (born 19 June 1955) is a British psychologist and political activist who is professor of health psychology at University College L… Thomas's relationship status is married. Was there not a case for the scientific community to say: we are not going to operate on these terms?The reason Sir David King set up the independent Sage was that he was so disturbed by the government strategy and the secrecy around the science. Dr Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the … On Independent Sage all through the summer we have been saying the government must use these months to drive down Covid transmission in the community towards zero. Ministers have started to blame young people for the increase of transmission of the virus, when they did what the government told them to do. Credit: Ucl.ac.uk “Only 76% of people intend to share their contacts because I … In retrospect, we should have also closed down the pubs. Personal details about Susan include: political affiliation is currently a registered Democrat; ethnicity is unknown; and religious views are listed as unknown. Professor Susan Michie, an adviser on the Government’s Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said current restrictions should follow … Quite an achievement and evidence of the time and effort she is dedicating to the cause… ? I don ’ t know what the worst is now are enormous with numbers... 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