O’Neill: Isn’t this attitude to the lab-leak theory, insisting that the debate is over both in academia and in public life, fundamentally anti-science?

Ridley: It certainly is. Science has progressed magnificently over the past few centuries because it has been decentralised, creating an environment where ideas can be rigorously challenged. One professor at Oxford was free to tell another professor at Cambridge that he’s talking utter nonsense, and vice versa. That’s a vital part of the scientific process. Without it, the Oxford or Cambridge professor can easily go down a rabbit hole of confirmation bias and motivated reasoning that may blind him to contrary evidence. There must always be a process to challenge other scientists.