Why are the people who decide the fate of the country allowed to remain SECRET? MPs demand names of government's faceless science advisers who will tell Boris Johnson when and how the UK will leave economy-crippling lockdown

• Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies is advising ministers on coronavirus 
• SAGE findings will inform government decision on how long to extend lockdown
• Government is under mounting pressure to publish full list of SAGE membership 
• Committee meets behind closed doors and only a few of its members are known

Ministers are under growing pressure to publish the names of all of the scientific experts who sit on the secretive committee which is advising the government on its coronavirus strategy. 

MPs are calling for the cast list of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) to be made public so that people can see exactly who ministers are getting their advice from. 

The government has rejected the calls, with sources claiming the names cannot be published because of security concerns amid reports of some experts receiving death threats. 

But former SAGE members have questioned that argument, insisting it is 'perfectly reasonable' for people to know who sits on the committee which Boris Johnson is relying on to guide the government's response to the outbreak. 

Chief Medical Officer Chris Witty (left) attends SAGE committee meetings which are chaired by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance (right). But the rest of the membership is largely unknown

Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick, pictured alongside Boris Johnson on March 19, have been key players in the UK's response to coronavirus

SAGE is this week reviewing the latest data on the spread of the disease and the effectiveness of the nationwide lockdown before then presenting its findings to ministers. 

The government will then make a decision tomorrow, based on SAGE's assessment of the evidence, on how long social distancing restrictions will remain in place.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's Chief Scientific Officer, chairs SAGE meetings.

Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, and Professor Neil Ferguson, whose computer modelling on the spread of the disease has been vital in guiding the government's response, are also known to attend.

But beyond that the attendees are largely unknown.

It is thought somewhere between 50 and 60 scientists are currently being invited to attend the committee's meetings. 

Many MPs believe there needs to be greater transparency relating to the committee's membership and work given how important it is in determining the fate of the nation. 

Greg Clark, the Conservative chairman of the Science and Technology Select Committee, is leading the calls for a cast list to be published, telling The Guardian that he is concerned 'the composition of Sage, and the disciplines represented therein, remains largely unknown'.

Liberal Democrat leadership challenger Layla Moran echoed a similar sentiment as she said: 'The composition of Sage and the data on which recommendations are being made must be published.'  

There are also calls for SAGE to publish the evidence it is analysing and its conclusions relating to the outbreak. 

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said: 'Ministers must be fully transparent about the modelling and evidential base they are using to maintain public confidence.'

Sir Patrick wrote to Mr Clark to tell him the composition of SAGE will not be set out because of security advice from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure. 

A source told The Telegraph: 'There is a duty of care that the government has to the scientists involved with Sage. 

'In the interests of their security, they are not being named. There have already been incidents of people involved in Sage and its sub-committees being threatened.' 

The newspaper reported the threats related either to the lockdown being too strict or to it being implemented too slowly. 

Professor Peter Openshaw, a former SAGE member and a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said people should know who sits on the committee. 

He told the BBC: 'Yes. I was on Sage during the last pandemic, the 2009 pandemic. 

'I don't quite know the reason that who is on it is not announced. It seems perfectly reasonable to say who is on it.'

Told that the government had cited concerns about scientists being threatened or intimidated if their names were published, Prof Openshaw said: 'I have never felt threatened or intimidated or even particularly controlled by government in terms of what we can say. 

'I think government is generally pretty keen that experts can speak out and of course we don't decide, we only advise. 

'The government expert advisory system that we have in this country which is really one of the best in the world I think in terms of the government actually having scientific information passed up to them is a very open one. 

'It is relatively transparent and I think generally works reasonably well.'