Professor John FitzGerald:

I have had occasion with joint authors when a junior member of staff has come to me saying the comments he or she has received from outside were way over the top. I have agreed and said they should be ignored. I managed a division of the institute for several years and my view was if they were good comments take them on board, if not, I said, "It is your report, you are the author, you are responsible for what it says and don’t be pushed around."