By Jess Williams
In November, investigative journalist with The Grayzone, Kit Klarenberg exposed how lobby group, the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (iSAGE) influenced Britain’s policy decision making during the Covid pandemic.[1]
iSAGE played a crucial role in advocating for the wave of lockdowns putting the population (all except the political class who enjoyed the infamous Christmas booze-ups of Westminster) in a state of social isolation.
Klarenberg puts forward the case that iSAGE, established by David King (a pundit for the liberal anti-worker Guardian and former chief scientific adviser for war criminal Tony Blair) was founded with the mission statement to ‘force greater transparency in the official SAGE’. Such a call for greater transparency was also made at the time by the Guardian.
The rise of iSAGE was received with warmth by the establishment. The former iSAGE member and whistleblower, Allyson Pollock said that the group moved away from the initial prerogative of transparency and started to make policy recommendations by its own volition.[2]
The Daily Telegraph alleges iSAGE is run by a clique of liberal anti-Russia conspiracy theorists called The Citizens.[4] The Citizens consists of regular Guardian contributors like David King and the founder of The Citizens, Carole Cadwalladr, individuals both complicit in NATO’s ongoing drive to war against Russia and China. The Citizens is also heavily financed by global imperialist regime-change network, Luminate which has financed The Citizens to a tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.[5]
Such extensive links might discredit iSAGE’s claim to being an “independent” organisation but are also illustrative of the motivations of iSAGE’s policy recommendations.
Klarenberg in his piece demonstrates that the policy recommendations put forward by iSAGE are part of a broader state security operation of greater population control, an essential prerequisite for war time. I recommend readers take the time to check out the sources listed below.
[1] The journalist-run, intelligence-linked operation that warped British pandemic policy – The Grayzone
[2] Covid-19’s rebel scientists: has iSAGE been a success? | The BMJ
[3] The Grayzone
[4] Revealed: Independent Sage is run by Left-wing group including anti-Brexit activists (telegraph.co.uk)
[5] Luminate – The Citizens (luminategroup.com)
[6] England’s new covid-19 monitoring outfit: the Joint Biosecurity Centre | The BMJ
[7] Exclusive: Calls to end secrecy of body driving UK’s Covid lockdowns (telegraph.co.uk)
IndieSage have consistently given sensible advice throughout the pandemic. Each week, they interview specialists in a variety of fields and give the public opportunity to ask them questions. They help make the study of virology accessible to lay people and give specialists opportunity to communicate with those who view the IndieSage broadcasts.
In each of their weekly broadcasts, a statistician considers available facts and statistics and professionally summarizes them.
Put simply, their message is that people should take sensible and proportionate steps to protect themselves and vulnerable people eg vaccinate, wear a quality mask (ie FFP3 or FFP2), ensure that the air quality is good, that the state should pay sick workers to isolate when ill, that the state should invest more in the NHS and that inequalities in society should be tackled. They advise that such steps be taken to protect health and avoid lockdowns.
It would be disappointing if the “Workers Party” didn’t support taking steps to protect the health and welfare of workers.
It’s bizarre (and significantly lacking in evidence) to suggest that IndieSage, who routinely criticise the government, are part of a broader state security operation of greater population control.
Thanks Pete, really interesting points and a very different perspective. I’m grateful to hear both points of view myself.