Was the UK Government’s Policymaking ‘Evidence-Based’ During the Pandemic? Reflections on Science and Politics

Abstract

At face value, it could be argued that, during the pandemic, UK Government policymaking (like that in some other countries) came close to being evidence-based, in the sense that it drew on virological and epidemiological evidence about the spread of the virus, as well as on a broader range of scientific evidence about what measures were likely to be successful in dealing with it. I consider what this case can tell us about the complexities and limits of evidence-based policymaking, and about the conditions required if closer approximation to a model of rational decision-making drawing on scientific evidence is to be achieved. In particular, I examine: problems caused by uncertainties surrounding scientific evidence and advice; issues to do with the channels of communication by which scientific information reached policymakers; the fuzzy interface between evidence and grounds for policy action; and the contextual factors that affected both its reception and its production – in particular, the role of interests and ideology.