First: conduct an independent investigation into British children with autism, including gastro-enterological investigations and tests for antibodies to the measles virus. Dr Byrd of the University of California said that he would have liked to “see what happens to the recurrence rate in families which chose not to vaccinate a subsequent sibling. We didn’t have enough numbers to do this but I’d like to see it done.”

Second: create a proper vaccine damage compensation system. The families are going to the High Court because they have no choice. The UK’s current vaccine damage scheme requires proof of 60 per cent disability and its maximum payout is £100,000 — far below the cost of caring for a child with severe autism over a lifetime.

In the US it is accepted that vaccines, like any other medical intervention, may affect a small number of children. Compensating them is not only fair, but also helps to keep the overall vaccination programme on track. Richard Barr, representing the families, says: “If the UK Government were to adopt a more helpful scheme, like that in the USA ... some common sense could once again be injected into these important public health issues.”

Third: it would seem sensible not to introduce any more vaccines for children until there is more clarity about interactions between vaccines. Rumours abound that manufacturers are working on “MMRv”, a four-in-one combination of MMR plus chickenpox, with tacit encouragement from the Department of Health.

Fourth: the Government should review the way the Department of Health is organised. Dr Richard Nicholson believes that this is at the root of the problems: “I would ask Sir Andrew Turnbull (the new head of the Civil Service) to think about why he needs six grades of medical officer. Many of the doctors who end up in the Department have failed to make a go of their proposed medical career. They need fresh thinking. The best thing ministers could do is to have a complete shake-out of personnel.”

It is hard not to sympathise with this view. At the BSE inquiry in 1998, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Kenneth Calman, memorably changed his definition of “safe” to mean “not zero risk”. This was the same Chief Medical Officer who that year signed MMR leaflets with a “personal message” saying that “MMR is the safest way for you to protect your children”.

Sir Kenneth has retired, but a culture of assertion and fudge remains. This needs to change if confidence in vaccines is to be restored. There is no proven connection between autism and MMR, but the increasing numbers of autistic children deserve serious consideration. The heretics of today might just turn out to be the heroes of tomorrow.