Mark Walport
 Mark Walport    (scientist, lobbyist) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_cropped.jpg) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 January 1953 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | UK | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of | Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies | ||||||||||||||||||||
UK/Government Chief Scientific Adviser (2013 to 2017) "In defending science against political pressure, he is, in other words, as much use as a suit of paper armour."
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Sir Mark Jeremy Walport is an English medical scientist and was the Government Chief Scientific Adviser in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2017[1] and Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2017 to 2020.[2]
In 2013, when he was Chief Scientific Adviser, Walport denounced the proposal for a temporary European ban on the pesticides blamed for killing bees. George Monbiot wrote about it:
That in defending science against political pressure, he is, in other words, as much use as a suit of paper armour... Among the official duties of the chief scientist is “to ensure that the scientific method, risk and uncertainty are understood by the public”. Less than a month into the job, Sir Mark Walport has misinformed the public about the scientific method, risk and uncertainty. He has made groundless, unscientific and emotionally manipulative claims. He has indulged in scaremongering and wild exaggeration in support of the government’s position.[3]
Resources
