Covid inquiry live: Priti Patel admits policing of Sarah Everard vigil was ‘totally inappropriate’

Dame Priti Patel has admitted to the Covid inquiry that the policing of a vigil for murdered marketing executive Sarah Everard was “totally inappropriate”.

The former home secretary said she was “dismayed” by the policing of the vigil in early 2021. The Metropolitan Police have since apologised and paid damages to two of those who were arrested.

However, Dame Priti said she felt the police generally struck the right balance between enforcing coronavirus restrictions and upholding people’s right to protest – despite such matters feeling “uncomfortable” at the time.

Earlier today, former top police chief Martin Hewitt criticised localised Covid rules, the speed at which they changed, and the tier system of different regulations for different areas of the country.

He told the inquiry that localised tiers made it “incredibly difficult for even a perfectly law-abiding and committed citizen to understand precisely what that meant for them in their own personal circumstances”, while having different regulations “on opposite sides of the same road” made policing more difficult.

Jun Pang, the policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, is also giving evidence to the inquiry.

Key Points

• Priti Patel admits Sarah Everard vigil policing was ‘totally inappropriate'

• Government’s ‘hands tied’ on border controls, says Priti Patel

• Police delayed law after getting Matt Hancock’s sign off just minutes before midnight

• Policing was in ‘uncharted territory’ during pandemic, says former top police boss

• Johnson’s decision-making was ‘exhausting for his inner circle’

17:57 , Andy Gregory

We’re pausing live updates on the blog for this evening. Thanks for following here – my colleagues will be back tomorrow with more live updates.

In the meantime, our political correspondent Adam Forrest has this report on today’s proceedings, or else keep scrolling to catch up on the day’s events here:

Need for rapid decisions in emergency must not supersede parliamentary scrutiny, says expert

17:25 , Andy Gregory

It is “really vital” that the need for rapid decision-making in an emergency does not “obscure the need for parliamentary scrutiny”, an expert has said.

“There were other ways that the government could have legislated. We flagged the Civil Contingencies Act, which was passed in 2004 and the purpose of that act was precisely to make provision for civil contingencies – or, in other words, emergency situations – where rapid decision-making would need to take place,” Jun Pang, the policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, told the inquiry.

“I think it’s really vital that rapid decision-making in an emergency context does not obscure the need for effective parliamentary scrutiny, which is integral to our democracy and also ensures that decision-making is transparent and accountable, and responsive to the needs of people who it’s going to affect.

“And we really recommended that the regulations at the very minimum be made under the CCA instead of the Public Health Act, because it had safeguards, for example, for greater parliamentary scrutiny. Regulations would lapse after seven days if they were not debated and approved by parliament, and other measures like that which the regulations as they were didn’t.”

Six-monthly debate of emergency Covid bill was ‘not enough’, says Liberty expert

17:15 , Andy Gregory

An amendment secured by MPs to ensure that parliament could debate emergency coronavirus legislation every six months was not enough to ensure the laws “could be adequately scrutinised”, an expert has said.

Jun Pang, the policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, told the Covid inquiry that the vast Coronavirus Bill received Royal Assent on 25 March 2020, just a day after it was first put to parliament.

While one amendment secured by MPs meant that parliament could debate the emergency rules twice a year, “even with that addition it was not enough to ensure that the act could be adequately scrutinised”, Ms Pang told the inquiry.

Coronavirus Bill was ‘extremely worrying’, Liberty says

16:39 , Andy Gregory

Emergency legislation rushed in to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was “extremely worrying”, Jun Pang, the policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, has told the Covid inquiry.

“From start to finish, when the Coronavirus Bill was first published, at more than 300 pages – spanning areas including new extraordinary detention powers, border closure powers, easements on social care and other care provision – the wide range of areas it covered and the little amount of time it was allowed to be scrutinised by parliament was extremely worrying to us,” said Ms Pang.

The two-year sunset clause – the length of time in which an emergency bill will expire – was “unprecedented and a real bar to public scrutiny”, she added.

Politicians ‘not there to dictate to police’, says Patel

16:12 , Adam Forrest

Priti Patel said it was vital to respect the “operational independence” of the police when trying to make sure Covid regulations were enforced – in an apparent dig at her successor Suella Braverman.

The ex-home secretary told the Covid inquiry: “Throughout the pandemic I felt that I spent a great deal of time reminding my colleagues of the role of policing ... and also operational independence, and that we as politicians are not there to dictate directly to the police as to when to arrest people and enforce the law.”

Patel admits ‘inconsistency’ in her own messages to public

15:52 , Adam Forrest

Priti Patel has admitted there was “inconsistency” in her public messaging about protests during the Covid crisis.

The former home secretary was questioned about a tweet in June 2020 in which she said “protests must be peaceful and in accordance with social distancing rules”, and then a piece in the Telegraph two days later in which she said large gatherings of people were unlawful.

Questioned on her remarks, Ms Priti appeared to give a wry smile before saying: “There’s inconsistency there, yes, I can see that.”

Home Office thought restrictions on outside gatherings ‘unenforceable’, says Patel

15:45 , Andy Gregory

Former home secretary Priti Patel admitted that there was a view within her department that some restrictions on outside gatherings were “unenforceable”.

She was presented with a WhatsApp message from Lord Frost, then-Brexit minister, who said the regulations on outside gatherings were “close to unenforceable”.

Asked if there was also a view within the Home Office that such rules were “practically unenforceable”, Ms Patel said: “Within the Home Office, yes.”

Policing of the Sarah Everard vigil was ‘totally inappropriate’, says Priti Patel

15:39 , Andy Gregory

Former home secretary Priti Patel said she was “dismayed” by the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil in early 2021 – which saw arrests.

She told the inquiry: “I saw the news and just felt that was totally inappropriate policing,” adding that she had conversations with then Met commissioner to express her views.

Police struck right balance between Covid rules and protest rights, says Patel

15:31 , Andy Gregory

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel said she believed police struck the right balance between protest and freedom of expression, and enforcing coronavirus regulations – despite their approach appearing “uncomfortable”.

Asked whether she believed the police’s approach struck the right balance, Dame Priti said: “I do. At the time it probably felt uncomfortable – where we had lockdowns, for example, and people’s movements were being restricted and the public discourse would be ‘why are these protests happening?’

“Of course, those are difficult challenges – it feels uncomfortable.”

The former home secretary referred in particular to Black Lives Matter protests and spoke about one demonstration which “turned particularly violent”, adding: “So, striking the balance – difficult. I think at the time it felt very uncomfortable.”

Priti Patel says Home Office was ‘agile’ in protecting vulnerable

15:24 , Andy Gregory

Our political correspondent Adam Forrest has more on Priti Patel’s remarks that conversations about protecting domestic abuse victims during lockdown began around 18 March 2020.

“We were agile, we were able to work at pace, and we were able to start working across the sector with partners as soon as we were effectively locking down,” she said of the Home Office work.

Ms Patel said “absolutely” stands by the support given by the Home Office when dealing with the rise of child abuse.

“They were the right steps to deploy,” she said. “We knew there would be a surge in demand for people seeking help and support.”

Covid regulations confused public and the police, says Patel

15:11 , Adam Forrest

Priti Patel has said the Covid regulations were confusing to both the public and the police.

Asked by Covid inquiry lawyer Hugo Keith KC if she accepted that there was a “high degree of confusion” about the rules – both in following them and enforcing them – Ms Patel said: “I would agree, I would completely agree.”

Ms Patel, asked if the flat fine of £10,000 for those caught breaking lockdown rules around August 2020 was proportionate, said: “No,” adding that it was "very high".

Boris Johnson wanted ‘bigger fines’ for rule-breaking, inquiry hears

14:59 , Adam Forrest

A letter to Boris Johnson from his private secretary Imran Shafi in August 2020 shows then-health secretary Matt Hancock, and top scientific advisers, wanted a “more cautious approach”.

The then-prime minister replied by saying the “overriding message” had to be tougher enforcement of the rules and “bigger fines”.

Tech firms ‘enabled terrible things’ during pandemic, says Priti Patel

14:59 , Andy Gregory

Former home secretary Priti Patel claims to have had “some very forthright discussions” with tech firms who “enabled all sorts of terrible things on the web” during the pandemic.

Dame Priti told the inquiry: “Throughout the pandemic, it is fair to say that I had some very forthright discussions with technology companies about their own responsibilities – to data-sharing, closing down platforms that effectively promoted, facilitated and enabled all sorts of terrible things on the web, which could also compel and entice children to be on those sites.

“I remember having a specific discussion with technology companies – I think the National Crime Agency were involved as well – because we saw a surge in activity online, almost the inevitability of lockdown.

“With that of course, perpetrators are spending more time online. The dark web in particular is a dreadful place for just terrible activity. But we found that some of the third-party organisations we would work with, for example the Internet Watch Foundation and others, they themselves were affected by the pandemic, so they were not in the office.

Many of their people and professionals that would monitor images that could then go to law enforcement were suffering from Covid. So there were all sorts of wider practical considerations that we had to consider working with law enforcement and with these partners as to how we could tackle this wider scourge in society.”

Just £27m allocated to domestic abuse charities after first lockdown announced

14:47 , Andy Gregory

Just £27m of £750m announced for frontline charities in the wake of the first lockdown was allocated towards domestic abuse charities, former home secretary Dame Priti Patel’s evidence shows.

Of that, £15m was given to the Ministry of Justice for police and crime commissioners to allocate to domestic abuse charities, £10 was given to the Ministry for Local Government for domestic abuse accommodation, and £2m for the Home Office to give to domestic abuse charities.

System for deciding Covid regulations ‘sub-optimal at every level’, says Patel

14:43 , Andy Gregory

Our political correspondent Adam Forrest reports:

Priti Patel has told the Covid inquiry that the process for deciding Covid regulations were “sub-optimal at every single level”. The former home secretary says it was the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) that come up with the regulations.

Ms Patel said she asked DHSC to give police more time before coming up with the rules, but said the process was “sub-optimal at every single level”, adding that there should be a “totally different system” in future.

Earlier, the ex-home secretary said she accepted there was no effective system in place to stop the Covid infection coming the border.

Asked if the UK lacked the “practical capability to be able to restrict the infection”, she said: “I think that’s absolutely correct and, with that, no technical capability. At that stage the skills and capabilities simply weren’t there.”

Priti Patel ‘not sure colleagues thanked me’ for work on safeguarding children

14:32 , Andy Gregory

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that “I’m not sure colleagues in government thanked me” for her work on safeguarding children.

Questioned on whether children and abuse victims were considered as part of debates concerning protecting vulnerable people during lockdown in March 2020, Dame Priti said: “I can’t recall at that particular time, I cannot recall whether or not it was, but I do know that in terms of pressing for a wider definition of vulnerabilities and vulnerable people, I do know children came into it.

“The reason, as I’ve already touched on, is partly because of the work that I was pressing across government.

“I’m not sure my colleagues in government thanked me at the time, particularly around children, county lines, missing children. It’s a major part of our work in the Home Office.”

Priti Patel ‘began planning for hidden lockdown harms on 18 March 2020'

14:27 , Andy Gregory

Priti Patel has said that she began having discussions in the Home Office about how vulnerable people could be affected by lockdown on 18 March 2020 – five days before the national shutdown was announced by Boris Johnson.

Asked when thinking about victims of hidden lockdown harms began, the former home secretary told th inquiry: “That was in March, that was in and around the time of lockdown.”

Citing prior ongoing work around domestic abuse and county lines – which inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC had already told her not to focus on in her response – Ms Patel added: “So we were agile. We were able to work at pace.

“And we were able to start working across the sector with partners as soon as we were effectively locking down. The lockdown on 23 March, when that came, obviously changed [the] engagement dynamic, concentrated on how people were being affected.

“But just in that run-up to lockdown, I think it could have been even around possibly 18 March, around that time, I had already started to have discussions around vulnerable people, vulnerable groups ... that is within the Home Office, this isn’t just across government.”

No ability to prevent Covid arriving in the UK through border control, says Patel

13:20 , Joe Middleton

Priti Patel told the inquiry that early in the pandemic there was no ability to prevent coronavirus arriving in the UK through the borders.

Discussing February and March 2020, lead counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith KC said: “There was a distinct absence of practical capability to be able to restrict the infection through the border and secondly there was no sophisticated or effective system already thought about, drawn up and ready to be put into place when the virus attacked.”

She replied: “I think that’s absolutely correct and, with that, no technical capability.

“At that stage the skills and capabilities simply weren’t there.”

Government’s ‘hands tied’ on border controls, says Priti Patel

13:06 , Adam Forrest

Priti Patel has told the inquiry that the government’s “hands were effectively forced” into putting strict border controls in place at the start of the Covid pandemic.

Asked if decisions about restrictions and closures of airports and maritime ports with the Home Office or other departments, she said there was no “straightforward answer” and said some border moves crossed into “public health territory”.

She added: “Our hands were effectively forced really because of Wuhan and what was happening in China and that led to a series of measures.”

Priti Patel has started giving evidence

12:46 , Joe Middleton

The former home secretary is answering questions at the Covid-19 inquiry.

Police delayed law after getting Matt Hancock’s sign off just minutes before midnight

12:31 , Joe Middleton

Police had to put off enforcing new coronavirus laws because they only received the legislation signed off by Matt Hancock 16 minutes before it was meant to be enforced, the Covid inquiry has heard.

Martin Hewitt, said he had to tell then-home secretary Dame Priti Patel officers would need more time to act.

Mr Hewitt, who coordinated the coronavirus response between all the UK’s forces, also criticised ministers for confusing the situation further during media appearances.

On one night, he said there was regulation intended to come into force at 12.01am but “we received the regulations signed off by the secretary of state for health and social care (Mr Hancock) at 11.45”.

“So we had precisely 16 minutes,” he said, despite briefing documents needing to be drawn up and then translated into Welsh before they could be shared with forces.

“I had a conversation and was very clear with the home secretary at the time (Dame Priti) that we would not be enforcing that regulation on that day and it was going to take us probably ... 24/36 hours to actually get to a place where I was confident police officers out there knew what they needed to do.”

More problems would arise at 7am the following morning when ministers were “spinning round” the television and radio studios would be talking about this, he said.

Mr Hewitt said politicians would on “many occasions” go on to “throw a whole degree of confusion out” by mixing up regulation and laws, so he would have to correct the record.

I had ‘very strong words’ with the government over how to police protests in the pandemic - Hewitt

12:21 , Joe Middleton

The top police chief during the pandemic had “very strong words” with the government over how to police protests at the time, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.

Martin Hewitt, the former chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said protests presented a “great challenge” for forces.

“There was a confusion around which of the competing legislations took priority,” he said.

“It’s important for people to understand how that felt for police officers when we are in a pandemic where we are talking about the requirement for people to remain distanced, and then are being told to go and police a protest.

“I used very strong words behind closed doors in discussion with the Home Office and the Home Secretary at the time in relation to the situation.”

He added that the safety of officers and protesters was a key consideration.

Martin Hewitt critical of localised Covid rules

11:51 , Joe Middleton

Former top police chief Martin Hewitt criticised localised Covid rules and the the speed at which they changed.

The former National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman told the inquiry: “Once it started to change and then once it was really changing quite rapidly and you were getting tiers and you were getting localised, it became incredibly difficult for even a perfectly law-abiding and committed citizen to understand precisely what that meant for them in their own personal circumstances.”

Having different regulations “on opposite sides of the same road” made policing more difficult, he said.

He also said people becoming “fed up with the regulations” had the effect of sapping “away at the morale of the officers who are just trying to do their job in pretty difficult circumstances”.

People travelling to beauty spots as lockdown regulations differed put pressure on policing - Martin Hewitt

11:17 , Joe Middleton

Divergence in regulations in different parts of the UK and people travelling to beauty spots put pressure on policing, ex-National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman Martin Hewitt told the official inquiry into the pandemic.

He said people were “travelling in some cases hundreds of miles” to go to beautiful parts of the UK, making locals “quite angry” about “lots of people from other parts of the country coming into those communities when they are they are abiding by all the rules”.

“People’s preparedness to comply is eroded when I think that the other person over there is having an easier time than me.

“And this particularly became relevant when we started to get local lockdowns and and in some places where you would have literally on opposite sides of the road different regulations for people.

“But I think that became quite a feature if you talk about those beauty spot areas where people were saying ‘we are doing this, we are not moving, we are staying local, and these people are coming in and potentially putting us at risk’.

“And that puts a pressure on policing.”

Martin Hewitt: Policing during the pandemic was in uncharted territory

11:02 , Joe Middleton

Policing during the pandemic was “largely uncharted territory” for forces in terms of trying to achieve compliance with the regulations, the former chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council has said.

Giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry today, Martin Hewitt said that the response “was going to clash with our normal way of operating as the police service in this country.

“Looking at the other countries where the virus had spread ahead of this country, you could see the kind of measures that were being taken were measures that, as far as I’m aware, in policing terms, nothing like that had happened since the Second World War.

“So we were going to be into positions where we were going to be imposing on people’s liberty and movement and their lives in a way that was totally out of our experience at that point in time.”

Having to consider whether officers or the public had the coronavirus was another new dimension to operations, he said.

Martin Hewitt, the former chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, is up first this morning

10:09 , Joe Middleton

Good morning

10:06 , Joe Middleton

Good morning and welcome to the blog covering the Covid-19 inquiry.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel is preparing to give evidence at the Covid inquiry, as is Martin Hewitt, the former chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Jun Pang, the policy and campaigns officer at Liberty.

Wednesday 8 November 2023 18:10 , Andy Gregory

That’s us wrapping up our liveblog coverage today, thanks for following here.

You can find our latest output on the Covid inquiry here, or else keep scrolling to catch up on the day’s events as we reported them:

Full report: Johnson was told to sack Hancock to ‘save lives and protect the NHS’, Covid inquiry told

Wednesday 8 November 2023 16:29 , Andy Gregory

Britain’s top civil servant told Boris Johnson to sack Matt Hancock as health secretary to “save lives and protect the NHS”, the Covid inquiry has heard.

Former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill said he made the suggestion as a joke in a WhatsApp message to then No10 permanent secretary Simon Case, confirming the exchange on Wednesday.

Lord Sedwill said he was using “gallows humour”, but confirmed he had a conversation with Mr Johnson about the need to get rid of Mr Hancock – who was seen by many officials through the pandemic as dishonest.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full report here:

Sedwill compred shielding to ‘Stalinist segmentation'

Wednesday 8 November 2023 15:45 , Matt Mathers

Former cabinet secretary Lord Mark Sedwill compared shielding to "Stalinist segmentation" in messages to then No 10 permanent secretary Simon Case.

In a message from July 16 2020 shown to the Covid Inquiry, Lord Sedwill wrote: "The only answer I can see beyond the existing mitigations (other than the fantasy app) is Stalinist segmentation.

"The virus kills the old and sick. The lockdown hits the young and healthy. We have to confront the brutal truth and organise for it, notwithstanding CW’s scepticism about the practicalities."

Later on July 30, Lord Sedwill suggested in a message to Mr Case he did not buy the argument of Sage scientists that "it’s all too difficult" when it came to segregation.

Mr Case replied: "Neither PM (Boris Johnson) nor CX (Rishi Sunak) buy SAGE argument either."

Working with Johnson’s team was like ‘taming wild animals’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 15:35 , Matt Mathers

Working with Boris Johnson’s “brutal and useless” team was like “taming wild animals”, the two most senior civil servants who worked with the former prime minister have said, Archie Micthell reports.

Cabinet secretary Simon Case said that Mr Johnson and the allies he surrounded himself with are “basically feral”, messages shown to the Covid inquiry on Wednesday revealed.

The exchange was the latest damning assessment of Mr Johnson’s administration that Mr Case made with his predecessor as the head of the Civil Service, Lord Mark Sedwill.

Lord Sedwill complained that Mr Johnson’s administration was “brutal and useless”, according to an August 2020 extract from the diary of former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

The peer said he does not remember saying those words but added: “I can’t actually recall what might have prompted it but... I don’t doubt Sir Patrick’s memory. It must have been a moment of acute frustration with something.”

Mr Case, days before joining No 10 in May 2020, shared his concerns with the then-cabinet secretary.

“Honestly, Mark, I don’t want to go near these people. If as part of all this there are some guarantees about behaviour, I will give it a go for a very short period.”

Lord Sedwill then gave him some advice about how to handle Mr Johnson’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings “so he can’t run interference”.

Later, in June 2020, Mr Case wrote to Lord Sedwill: “It is like taming wild animals. Nothing in my past experience has prepared me for this madness.

“The PM and the people he chooses to surround himself with are basically feral.”

Lord Sedwill replied: “I have the bite marks.”

Sedwill: My ousting was ‘destabilising for the civil service'

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:47 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has said his ousting as cabinet secretary was “destabilising for the civil service”, but so were “constant hostile attacks on the cabinet secretary and also the office of the cabinet secretary”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary said those attacks predated Boris Johnson’s government, but it was “particularly his government” leaking things which in some cases “were simply untrue” to the press.

DHSC ‘did not even understand the regulations they authorised’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:42 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill lashed out at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for its “laissez faire” attitude for Covid programmes it was responsible for, WhatsApp messages shown to the inquiry reveal, Archie Mitchell reports.

He said the attitude was arguable the government’s “biggest failure”.

Then No10 permanent secretary Simon Case said Matt Hancock was hardly convincing those in government that the health system was “on it”.

Lord Sedwill also lashed out at DHSC as “totally incompetent” and said “they don’t even understand the regulations they authorise”.

Matt Hancock’s candour was ‘clearly damaging’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:38 , Matt Mathers

Britain’s former top civil servant has said Matt Hancock’s candour was “clearly damaging” to the government’s response to the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

Lord Sedwill told the Covid inquiry officials had to “double check” what they were being told be the then health secretary. And Lord Sedwill said “to save lives, and protect the NHS”, that Mr Hancock should be sacked.

Lord Sedwill said it was “gallows humour, echoing the government’s slogan”.

Boris Johnson decision-making is ‘exhausting for his inner circle’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:28 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson’s decision-making process was “exhausting” for those in his inner circle, Lord Sedwill has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary was asked if he agreed with criticisms from former Johnson advisers that he “oscillates, is unable to manage a cohesive team and direct government machinery consistently and effectively”.

“I recognise them, but would not express it in that way,” Lord Sedwill said.

The former top civil servant cited Mr Johnson’s decision-making process around the Brexit process, in which at one moment he would be “gung-ho” for a no-deal exit, while the next he would be “much more reflective”.

He added: “That is how he got to big decisions, it’s exhausting for the people in his inner circle.”

Britain’s former top civil servant apologises for suggesting chickenpox-style Covid parties

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:21 , Matt Mathers

Former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill has apologised for suggesting Boris Johnson should encourage people to hold chickenpox-style parties during the pandemic.

The ex-national security adviser admitted making the suggestion but insisted he was only using it as a way of shielding the most vulnerable while others developed immunity.

Archie Mitchell has the full report:

Former top civil servant apologises for suggesting chickenpox-style Covid parties

Matt Hancock was seen as a ‘big problem’, WhatsApp messages reveal

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:19 , Matt Mathers

Matt Hancock was referred to as a “big problem” for the government during the pandemic, WhatsApp messages seen by the inquiry reveal, Archie Mitchell reports.

A conversation between former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill and then No10 permanent secretary Simon Case yet again cast doubt on the ex-health secretary’s trustworthiness.

Referring to an ongoing argument between Mr Hancock and Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby, Lord Sedwill said: “Mayor actually a class act. Hancock trying to scapegoat him. Who do you believe?”

Further messages showed Mr Case complaining there was “no one around driving the policy side of operational lockdown on [Matt Hancock’s] behalf. Weird absence.”

Lord Sedwill replied: “Welcome to the last six months.”

Barnard Castle affair ‘dangerously eroded’ confidence in government

Wednesday 8 November 2023 14:11 , Matt Mathers

Dominic Cummings’s trip to Barnard Castle “dangerously eroded” confidence in government, WhatsApp messages shown to the Covid inquiry have revealed, Archie Mitchell reports.

As ministers were trying to implement local restrictions in the wake of national lockdowns, then No10 permanent secretary told Lord Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary, that for “obvious reasons” the legitimacy of the government had taken a hit.

Asked whether it was Mr Cummings’s infamous lockdown trip to Barnard Castle they were referring to, Lord Sedwill told the inquiry: “Yes, I presume that’s what we were referring to there.”

Lord Sedwill called ‘genius’ for sidelining Vallance and Whitty from Boris meeting

Wednesday 8 November 2023 13:30 , Matt Mathers

Simon Case said Lord Sedwill was a “genius” for sidelining Sir Patrick Vallance and Prof Chris Whitty in a meeting with the prime minister about the plan to ease lockdown measures in May 2020, Archie Mitchell reports.

“It removed that dynamic,” Mr Case told Lord Sedwill in WhatsApp messages shown to the Covid inquiry.

Mr Case, then permanent secretary in No10, said that during the meeting Boris Johnson and then chancellor Rishi Sunak “readily agreed a package, quite quickly”.

Lord Sedwill was asked whether he “did not want the prime minister to feel the full force of the scientific advice” from Sir Patrick and Prof Whitty.

The former cabinet secretary denied the suggestion, and said Sir Patrick was in fact “happy” with the package that was agreed.

Department for Health and Social Care was ‘unable to bear the weight’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:53 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill produced a note in May 2020 saying that DHSC was “unable to bear the weight” of the pandemic despite having a “can-do minister [Matt Hancock]” and Britain’s most experienced civil servant, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary said it straddles “byzantine bureaucracy” in the NHS, “underpowered” Public Health England and the “fragmented” provision of adult social care.

Sedwill: ‘It took Boris Johnson a long time to recover from Covid'

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:50 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has told the Covid inquiry it took Boris Johnson a “long time” to recover from his bout with Covid, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary said he was concerned about the then prime minister’s “stamina”.

He said Mr Johnson’s “decision-making style”, having been repeatedly compared to a veering trolley during the inquiry, was “a separate question”.

Inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC promised “we will come back to that”.

Better structure of Department of Health would have provided ‘alternative to lockdown’, inquiry hears

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:40 , Matt Mathers

If the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had been better structured and resourced for a public health crisis, the UK could have had an alternative to locking down during the pandemic, Lord Sedwill has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

One example the former cabinet secretary put forward is contact tracing capabilities, which would have provided “more options” at the beginning of the pandemic.

Sedwill: ‘I was not wedded to herd immunity'

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:36 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has denied he was “wedded” to the government’s initial herd immunity strategy to tackle Covid, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary was asked whether he was “unimpressed” by the government’s decision to introduce measures attempting to control the pandemic.

“I was not wedded to it,” Lord Sedwill said. “The government had no choice but to accelerate into these measures,” he added.

An earlier lockdown could have been shorter

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:32 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has told the Covid inquiry an earlier lockdown could have resulted in a shorter lockdown overall, Archie Mitchell reports.

“Earlier would have been better.” the former cabinet secretary said.

He was asked about Boris Johnson’s March 16, 2020 statement, asking people to avoid pubs and clubs and work from home, and whether if it was given earlier a national lockdown could have been avoided.

Lord Sedwill said: “I am highly sceptical that it would have been possible to avoid the lockdown altogether.

“It might well have been possible for it to have been less prolonged.”

Lord Sedwill gave Sir Patrick Vallance ‘an evil eye’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:23 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill gave Sir Patrick Vallance “an evil eye” in a meeting in which the then chief scientific adviser urged an acceleration of the government’s approach to the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary said he did “not remember being furious” and Sir Patrick did not tell him at the time he had “pulled a face”.

But diary entries by Sir Patrick, submitted to the Covid inquiry, said at a meeting on March 15, 2020, Lord Sedwill was “furious, gave him a very sour look or tentatively gave him an evil eye”.

Sedwill: My chickenpox comment wasn’t intended to downplay seriousess of Covid

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:20 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has said he did not believe Covid was only as serious as chickenpox and “knew it was a much more serious disease”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary has come under fire during the Covid inquiry for advising the prime minister to “explain that this is like the old days with chickenpox and people are going to have chickenpox parties”.

Asked about his stance, Lord Sedwill said: “That was not the point I was trying to make. As soon as I realised… I dropped it, because I realised the analogy was causing confusion.”

Lord Sedwill said: “I understand how… it must have come across that someone in my role was both heartless and thoughtless about this.

“I genuinely am neither. But I do understand the distress that must have caused and I apologise for that because it certainly wouldn’t have been my intention.”.

Lord Sedwill did not want decisions taken by ‘a bunch of No10 Spads’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:09 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill accused Boris Johnson’s government of acting like a “dictatorship” and railed against key decisions being taken by “a bunch of No10 Spads”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former PM’s top adviser Dominic Cummings tried to convene a meeting chaired by himself and Mr Johnson’s comms chief Lee Cain in March 2020 to “bring key players together”.

But, responding to the email shown to the Covid inquiry, the former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill said: “We are not running a dictatorship here and the PM is not taking nationally significant decisions with a bunch of number 10 Spads and no ministers, no operational experts and no scientists.

“If necessary. I will take over the 8.15am slot and chair a daily meeting myself.”

Government’s emergency planning arm ‘could not cope’ with Covid

Wednesday 8 November 2023 12:04 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has accepted the government’s emergency planning body could not cope with the “once in a century” pandemic which Covid represented, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary told the Covid inquiry the pandemic was “a wholly different magnitude” and was beyond the capacity of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS).

Inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC questioned why it was not prepared, given one of its own “tier one” risks was a “serious pandemic” causing as many as 820,000 deaths.

“They didn’t have the capacity to deal with this on their own at this scale,” Lord Sedwill said.

Lord Sedwill: Control of Covid had been ‘lost’ by the time March 3 plan was published

Wednesday 8 November 2023 11:57 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has said control of the virus had been “lost” by the time a Covid action plan was published by the Department of Health on March 3, Archie Mitchell reports.

The plan set out the UK’s contain, delay and mitigate approach to the pandemic. But inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC asked if the former cabinet secretary would accept that control had already been lost by then.

Lord Sedwill said: “We didn’t understand that at the time but, and indeed, that wasn’t the advice I think Sage gave us at the time.” But given what officials then discovered, “that is a fact”, Lord Sedwill added.

Elements of government believed pandemic ‘wasn’t going to happen’ inquiry hears

Wednesday 8 November 2023 11:50 , Matt Mathers

The Covid inquiry has heard officials at the top of government believed the Covid pandemic was “not going to happen” and that there “was optimism bias”, Archie Mitchell reports.

Former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill was asked by inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC whether, as previous witnesses have suggested, “elements of the government just believed it wasn’t going to happen, that there was optimism bias”.

Lord Sedwill said that is a “fair” way of putting it.

He added: “It’s hard looking back to recall quite how extraordinary were the measures we later took, they were unconscionable at the time.

“And therefore I think your point about this instinctive human reaction is true.”

Boris Johnson’s half term break was ‘regrettable’, Lord Sedwill

Wednesday 8 November 2023 11:42 , Matt Mathers

The former cabinet secretary said Boris Johnson’s break from February 10 to February 24 2020 was “regrettable”, as the former PM was not receiving information about the unfolding pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

Lord Sedwill said he “would have expected” work at the top of government on Covid to continue.

Boris Johnson said ‘confidence is contagious’ at February 2020 cabinet meeting

Wednesday 8 November 2023 11:38 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson said confidence was “contagious” too as he urged ministers to project a sense of calm and control at the start of the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

At a cabinet meeting on February 6, 2020, Johnson cautioned against overreacting to the spread of the pandemic and the “economic damage” that would cause, the Covid inquiry has heard.

Minutes of the meeting shown to the probe show the former PM said “confidence is contagious” and stressed the importance of government “remaining measured” in its response.

The minutes read that health secretary Matt Hancock had “taken the right tone”, adding: “Often the significant economic damage of a crisis came from political overreaction rather than the problem itself. This had been true of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy.”

Lord Sedwill worried about ‘stupid’ decisions being taken during pandemic

Wednesday 8 November 2023 11:11 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill believed the government risked taking “stupid” decisions based on projections about the potential for 600,000 Covid deaths, Archie Mitchell reports.

In an exchange of messages with the permanent secretary of the Department of Health Chris Wormald, the former cabinet secretary said the figure touted by Dominic Cummings at a meeting in February 2020 was “twice the number” he had been given.

Sir Chris cited chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty saying the reasonable worst case scenario was one for between 100,000 and 300,000 excess deaths.

“We almost ended up with stupid decisions being taken in an informal meeting,” Lord Sedwill fumed.

Cabinet meeting on February 4, 2020 only heard ‘short update’ on Covid

Wednesday 8 November 2023 11:07 , Matt Mathers

A cabinet meeting on February 4, 2020 heard only a “short update” on Covid, despite the unfolding crisis, the Covid inquiry has heard, Archie Mitchell reports.

Lord Sedwill said at that time the probability of the worst-case scenario unfolding was about 10 per cent, and the “seriousness of the crisis was not apparent”.

Sedwill: Covid plans should have been interrogated as pandemic struck

Wednesday 8 November 2023 10:58 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill has said ministers were repeatedly assured “plans were in place” to manage the pandemic as it emerged, but in hindsight they should have been “interrogated more carefully”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary told the Covid inquiry said he “presumed” that plans for isolating the most vulnerable would have been in place from a flu pandemic exercise in 2016.

“But I did not interrogate that,” Lord Sedwill said.

He added that the capability to stop Covid entering UK “did not exist” as pandemic struck

Lord Sedwill said that government officials knew in January that if Covid left China it would lead to a crisis in the United Kingdom.

But the former cabinet secretary said the capability to stop the virus entering the UK “did not exist”.

Russian-backed politician in Ukraine killed in car bomb - report

Wednesday 8 November 2023 10:57 , Matt Mathers

A car bomb has killed a Russian-backed politician in Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk, local media reports.

Mikhail Filiponenko was a former head of the Luhansk local militia, the Moscow-backed separatist army that had been fighting against Kyiv since 2014.

“As a result of an explosive device that detonated in Mikhail Filiponenko’s car, the People’s Council deputy received injuries incompatible with life,” his son told the Luhansk Information Centre.

Sedwill: I was concerned Hancock called Cobra to ‘make a splash’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 10:47 , Matt Mathers

Lord Sedwill did not accept a request to convene a Cobra meeting in January 2020 because he did not want to “unnerve” the public, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary told the Covid inquiry he was made aware of the virus on January 21 that year and then received a request from the Department of Health to convene the emergency committee.

But he said at the time the government’s communications approach was to “try and maintain calm in its public communications” and the meeting could have been “unnerving”.

He added that he was concerned the Cobra meeting was being convened to “make a splash” about the role of the Department of Health and the health secretary Matt Hancock”.

Johnson government was ‘more like opposition party coming to power’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 10:38 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson’s government before the pandemic was “more like an opposition party coming to power… than a government that had been in power for 10 years”, Lord Sedwill has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former cabinet secretary told the Covid inquiry that was due to the nature of the Brexit process and the “change in personalities Mr Johnson brought in”.

The “primary focus” of January 2020 was Brexit, Lord Sedwill added, after which Mr Johnson’s focus turned to delivering on his manifesto commitments.

Sedwill: Johnson had to reminded to include cabinet in decision-making

Wednesday 8 November 2023 10:35 , Matt Mathers

Former cabinet secretary Lord Mark Sedwill had to remind Boris Johnson to include his cabinet in decision-making over concerns the top ministers were being sidelined.

Lord Sedwill told the Covid inquiry he did not believe the cabinet was being as “fully participative” in key decisions.

“I did need to remind him of the importance of involving cabinet colleagues not just in the formal decision but formulation of that decision,” he said.

Sedwill: access to record-keeping ‘troublesome’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 10:19 , Matt Mathers

Mark Sedwill said that record keeping during the Covid pandemic and access to those records had been “troublesome”.

“The record keeping and the access to records has been troublesome,” he said.

He did, however, say that he had access to a “range of material” and had to identify what was important from this.

ICYMI: The five key questions Boris Johnson must answer when he takes the stand at the Covid inquiry

Wednesday 8 November 2023 09:56 , Matt Mathers

The inquiry so far has been about settling scores rather than learning lessons – it badly needs to rise to the task when the former prime minister eventually slouches to the witness stand, writes John Rentoul.

Read John’s full piece here:

The five key questions Boris Johnson must answer at the Covid inquiry | John Rentoul

Welsh government WhatsApp messages during Covid may have been deleted, Drakeford says

Wednesday 8 November 2023 09:22 , Matt Mathers

Some WhatsApp messages between Welsh government officials or ministers relating to the Covid pandemic may have been deleted, first minister Mark Darkeford has admitted.

He was answering questions on Monday as the Covid inquiry in London heard evidence.

“I think the fairer way of putting it is the deletion may have taken place.

I know in my case, I’ve never had any deletion arrangements on the phone because I would have no idea how to make it happen, but I don’t use WhatsApp,” he said in response to a question from Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies.

"So I think what I don’t want to say is that they were not some people working in the Welsh government and working on Covid, who didn’t have pre-existing arrangements, which continued after Covid began.

“But as soon as we were aware that the inquiry would be interested in material of that sort that was stored on phones, there was no move to delete it once we knew the inquiry would be taking an interest in it".

ICYMI: Johnson said Treasury was ‘pro death squad’

Wednesday 8 November 2023 09:05 , Matt Mathers

On Monday, the Covid inquiry heard that Boris Johnson joked that the Treasury was the “pro-death” squad during the pandemic because it wanted to ease lockdown restrictions quickly to get the economy going again.

The comment was recorded in the diary of Sir Patrick Vallance, the former chief scientific adviser, who also said the former PM wanted all lockdown restrictions lifted by September 2020.

Archie Mitchell and Adam Forrest report:

Boris called the Treasury the ‘pro-death squad’ during Covid pandemic, inquiry hears

Cummings: Sedwill’s departure ‘set off bomb’ across Whitehall

Wednesday 8 November 2023 08:23 , Matt Mathers

As we reported earlier, Lord Sedwill’s departure from Downing Street was described by Dominic Cummings as like setting off “a kind of bomb across the whole system”.

Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, made the comment while giving evidence to the inquiry himself at the end of last month.

During his evidence, Cummings also claimed that he had “begged” the former prime minister not to sack Lord Sedwill, who left government in June 2020 amid reports of a rift between him and Cummings.

Sophie Wingate has a full report on what else Cummings said about his former colleague:

Cummings: Sedwill’s departure ‘set off bomb’ across Whitehall

Who is Mark Sedwill?

Wednesday 8 November 2023 07:50 , Matt Mathers

The former diplomat was running the civil service when the pandemic struck but resigned in September 2020. Last week, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings told the inquiry that Lord Sedwill losing his job "set off a kind of bomb across the whole system".

Lord Sedwill left government in June 2020, having been reportedly sidelined by Cummmings.

Giving evidence to the inquiry last week, Cummings said he had "begged" the then-prime minister not to effectively sack the career civil servant, despite using obscenities to describe him in WhatsApp messages. Lord Sedwill was also at the centre of allegations made by the Vote Leave strategist about a plan to encourage people to hold the equivalent of "chicken pox parties" to promote herd immunity.

A WhatsApp message from Cummings, dated March 12 2020, in which he complained: "Sedwill babbling about chickenpox god f****** help us", was shown to the inquiry last week. Lord Sedwill left his job after criticism from the former adviser, who said the official "hasn’t a scooby whats going on".

On Tuesday, the inquiry heard Lord Sedwill’s replacement, Simon Case, complained to his predecessor that people working in No 10 were "mad" and "poisonous" as he prepared for the role. Before he was appointed cabinet secretary, Case told Lord Sedwill: "These people are so mad. Not poisonous towards me (yet), but they are just madly self-defeating."

He said many "top-drawer people" he had asked to replace No 10 official Tom Shinner "refused to come because of the toxic reputation of his operation".

Former cabinet secretary to appear at Covid inquiry

Wednesday 8 November 2023 07:44 , Matt Mathers

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Covid inquiry.

Lord Mark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary, is due to give evidence later this morning.

He will appear before the inquiry at 10am and will be followed by Justin Tomlinson, the Tory MP for North Swindon and former minister for disabled people, at 2pm.

Stay tuned for the latest updates.

ICYMI: Officials expressed ‘serious concerns’ about NHS patients being discharged into care homes

Tuesday 7 November 2023 18:15 , Archie Mitchell

The Covid inquiry has heard that multiple officials raised “quite serious concerns” about NHS patients being discharged into care homes.

At the end of March and beginning of April 2020, Simon Ridley told the inquiry there was an aim to get 15,000 people discharged from hospitals into social care settings to free up capacity in the health service.

But the inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC has shown evidence that a number of officials raised concerns about asymptomatic patients spreading the disease into care homes.

The inquiry was then shown an email from a No10 official on April 3, who said the government should consider “more extreme measures or guidance”.

“Given that once someone gets it in one of these places, many die,” the email said.

“We were concerned that there were problems in the care sector that needed to be addressed extremely quickly,” said Mr Ridley, who was head of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce.

ICYMI: ‘Covid taskforce was not asked about Eat out to Help Out scheme,’ Simon Ridley

Tuesday 7 November 2023 17:45 , Joe Middleton

Simon Ridley has told the Covid inquiry he was not consulted about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme during the pandemic.

That “was decided by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor”, the former head of the Covid-19 taskforce said.

A surprised lead counsel Hugo Keith KC said: “You were the single body tasked with sensitising the policy and strategy for responding to the virus and giving advice to the government telling them how it should be responded to.”

“You must have been extraordinarily concerned,” he added.

Mr Ridley squirmed over his answer, before saying: “Things happen that surprise… we were focused on the advice we could give.”

Mr Keith said: “Because you were effectively blindsided by the Treasury and there was nothing you could do?” “Correct,” Mr Ridley said.

Ed Lister: WhatsApp messages seen in inquiry are ‘appalling’

Tuesday 7 November 2023 17:16 , Joe Middleton

Lord Lister has told inquiry chair Baroness Hallett that some of the WhatsApp messages she has been shown so far are “pretty appalling”.

Baroness Hallett asked what could be done in future to avoid personality clashes which were a theme in Downing Street during the pandemic.

Lord Lister, Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff, told her: “I think there should have been clearer lines, clearer responsibilities, and I think that would have eased the situation.

“I also think people needed to be treated a little bit more respectfully than they were. Some of those WhatsApp messages, you’ve seen them, are pretty appalling.

“And that’s something that I felt very uncomfortable with.”

Boris Johnson said we should ‘let the bodies pile high’ rather than impose another lockdown

Tuesday 7 November 2023 16:44 , Archie Mitchell

Boris Johnson said he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than impose another lockdown in September 2020, Lord Lister has confirmed.

The ex-PM’s then chief of staff told the Covid inquiry it was an “unfortunate turn of phrase” but the government was trying to avoid a further lockdown “given the already severe impact on the economy and education”.

‘Scotland always wanted to do it slightly differently to England,’ Ed Lister

Tuesday 7 November 2023 16:27 , Joe Middleton

Downing Street was “frustrated” because the Scottish government always wanted to do things slightly differently to England” during the pandemic.

Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff Lord Lister said for “political reasons” Scottish ministers did not want to be seen to do the same as their English counterparts.

“It always almost seemed that there was a desire just to be different,” he told the Covid inquiry.

Civil service chief: ‘I’ve never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country’

Tuesday 7 November 2023 16:23 , Joe Middleton

Simon Case said he had “never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country” after becoming the top civil servant in No10.

Mr Case, now cabinet secretary, said he would “struggle to last six months” after becoming the permanent secretary in Downing Street.

The former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill said he was “ok so far” as he had joined in a “good news phase”.And in WhatsApp messages shown to the inquiry, Lord Sedwill said: “It’s hard to ask people to march to the sound of gunfire if they’re shot in the back”.

Mr Case replied: “I’ve never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country.”

Dominic Cummings was ‘not easy to deal with’, Lord Lister

Tuesday 7 November 2023 16:13 , Joe Middleton

Lord Lister has told the Covid inquiry Dominic Cummings was “not an easy man to deal with”.

Asked about the working environment in No10, which the inquiry has so far heard was toxic and chaotic, Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff said there was “tension” driven by different personalities.

Regarding Mr Cummings, Lord Lister said “he was not an easy man to deal with”.

Covid taskforce 'blindsided' by Eat out to Help Out scheme, Covid inquiry told

Tuesday 7 November 2023 16:00 , Joe Middleton

Rise in domestic abuse was ‘not particularly high on the list’, Ed Lister confirms

Tuesday 7 November 2023 15:59 , Archie Mitchell

Lord Lister has confirmed a potential rise in domestic abuse was “not particularly high on the list” of concerns ahead of the introduction of Covid lockdowns.

“I don’t think people thought about it as being a likely outcome,” the former No10 chief of staff said.

He added: “Lockdown was a very blunt instrument which was being used to try and stop the spread of Covid, and there were all sorts of consequences from that.

“Yes, we should have thought much more about domestic abuse.”

Boris Johnson wanted to be injected with Covid live on TV ‘to show it did not pose a threat’

Tuesday 7 November 2023 15:50 , Joe Middleton

Lord Lister has told the Covid inquiry that Boris Johnson - who eventually almost died of Covid - wanted to be injected with the disease on live TV “to demonstrate that it did not pose a threat”.

Describing the comment as “unfortunate”, Lord Lister said it was made in the early days of the pandemic “in the heat of a moment”.

Lord Lister rejected Sadiq Khan’s request to attend Cobra

Tuesday 7 November 2023 15:49 , Joe Middleton

Lord Lister refused a request by Sadiq Khan to attend a Cobra meeting in the early days of the pandemic.

The mayor of London believed the capital was “one of the most at risk places” in the country due to its large number of hospitals, airports and international visitors.

His government relations team asked Downing Street if he would be invited to attend a Cobra meeting.

In Mr Khan’s evidence, shown briefly to the inquiry, he said “a reply from No10 said that I would not be invited” and “no explanation” was given.

Lord Lister said it was about “parity” with the rest of the country and not giving London special treatment.

A diplomatic response for the ages from Lord Lister

Tuesday 7 November 2023 15:41 , Joe Middleton

Asked at the Covid inquiry how he got on with Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser Dominic Cummings, Lord Lister said: “We worked together. We had desk facing each other.”

Johnson’s top adviser: Economic impact was ‘real coronavirus threat’

Tuesday 7 November 2023 15:40 , Archie Mitchell

Boris Johnson’s chief of staff during the pandemic said the economic impact of Covid was the “real threat”.

In messages from February 2020, Lord Lister said air freight rates in Asia were up 500 per cent and cited four days of falling stock markets.

“In my opinion this is the real coronavirus threat,” he said in a WhatsApp exchange with Mr Johnson and the rest of his top team.

“Can I suggest at the Cobra on Monday the economic bit is as important as the health input?” he added.

Lord Edward Udny-Lister, Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff in Downing Street, will now be giving evidence

Tuesday 7 November 2023 15:16 , Joe Middleton

Boris Johnson was ‘all over the place', inquiry hears

Tuesday 7 November 2023 14:33 , Joe Middleton

Boris Johnson was “all over the place” and Rishi Sunak kept using “increasingly specific and spurious arguments against closing hospitality” at a meeting prior to the announcement of the second lockdown, the Covid-19 inquiry heard today.

The hearing was shown an extract from the notebooks of former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance as the second wave of the virus swept through the UK.

The extract, from early October 2020, read: “Very bad meeting in no.10... PM (Prime Minister) talks of medieval measures than ones being suggested. Perhaps we should look at another approach and apply different values... Surely this just sweeps through in waves like other natural phenomena and there is nothing we can do.

“As Simon Ridley said final slide, PM said ‘Whisky and a revolver’. He was all over the place. CX (Chancellor) using increasingly specific and spurious arguments against closing hospitality. Both of them clutching at straws...

There are really only three choices for the high prevalence areas... 1) Do a proper lockdown 2) Use military to enforce the rules 3) Do nothing and do a ‘Barrington Declaration’ and count the bodies (poor, old and BAME). When will they decide.”

‘We are smashing up the economy and have no idea how many times we are going to have to do it,’ Boris Johnson

Tuesday 7 November 2023 14:21 , Archie Mitchell

Boris Johnson raged that he was “smashing up the economy” and had “no idea how many times we are going to have to do it” by implementing lockdowns to control the pandemic.

The frustrated former prime minister got to the point where he was urging officials to consider “jacking in” the strategy of controlling the pandemic, hand-written notes shown to the Covid inquiry reveal.

Boris Johnson was ‘undone by Rishi Sunak’, Sir Patrick Vallance

Tuesday 7 November 2023 14:17 , Joe Middleton

In the latest extract from Sir Patrick Vallance’s pandemic diaries, he said Boris Johnson was seen as “owning the reality for a day” before being “buffeted by a discussion with Rishi Sunak”.

Ahead of a meeting to discuss the tiered lockdown system or a so-called “circuit breaker” in October 2020, Simon Ridley spoke with Sir Patrick.

Sir Patrick’s diaries reveal that Mr Ridley said Mr Johnson wanted to “avoid making a whole load of decisions that then get undone by [the chancellor]”.

Sir Patrick added that Mr Ridley described Mr Johnson wanted to achieve “a series of mutually incompatible options”. And Mr Ridley said Mr Johnson “owns the reality for a day and then is buffeted by a discussion with [the chancellor]”, the diary entry shows.

Health officials was ‘not concerned’ about Covid patients in care homes months into pandemic, inquiry hears

Tuesday 7 November 2023 13:58 , Joe Middleton

Department of Health (DHSC) staff were “not concerned” about discharging elderly people into care homes with Covid until months after the pandemic struck, the official pandemic probe has heard.

An email thread between top officials at No10 and the Cabinet Office in April 2020 shown to the Covid-19 Inquiry reveals increasing fears about the spread of the pandemic in hospitals and care settings.

But, asked by a member of the Covid-19 taskforce, a director in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said infections that were picked up in hospitals and spread into care homes were “not an issue of concern”.

Health officials were ‘not concerned’ about Covid patients in care homes for months

ICYMI: Johnson ‘did not understand difference between minimising mortality’ and Covid

Tuesday 7 November 2023 13:45 , Joe Middleton

ICYMI: Boris Johnson called Treasury the ‘pro-death squad’ during Covid pandemic, inquiry told

Tuesday 7 November 2023 13:20 , Joe Middleton

Boris Johnson joked about the Treasury being “the pro-death squad” during the pandemic because it wanted to ease lockdown restrictions quickly, Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries have revealed.

The former chief scientific adviser recorded a meeting in which the former PM said he wanted to lift all Covid restrictions by September 2020.

In an extracts from his diary, shown to the Covid inquiry, Sir Patrick said Mr Johnson “ended up by saying the team must bring in the pro-death squad from HMT [Her Majesty’s Treasury]”.

Boris called the Treasury the ‘pro-death squad’ during Covid pandemic, inquiry hears

Boris Johnson shown modelling ahead of decision for ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown

Tuesday 7 November 2023 12:55 , Joe Middleton

The scenario pictured below was shown to Boris Johnson in September 2020 by the Covid-19 taskforce, outlining a hypothetical scenario for the middle of October ahead of a decision on a so-called “circuit breaker” lockdown.

The Covid inquiry has heard that Mr Johnson then did not take that option.

‘Covid taskforce was not asked about Eat out to Help Out scheme,’ Simon Ridley

Tuesday 7 November 2023 12:09 , Joe Middleton

Simon Ridley has told the Covid inquiry he was not consulted about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme during the pandemic.

That “was decided by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor”, the former head of the Covid-19 taskforce said.

A surprised lead counsel Hugo Keith KC said: “You were the single body tasked with sensitising the policy and strategy for responding to the virus and giving advice to the government telling them how it should be responded to.”

“You must have been extraordinarily concerned,” he added.

Mr Ridley squirmed over his answer, before saying: “Things happen that surprise… we were focused on the advice we could give.”

Mr Keith said: “Because you were effectively blindsided by the Treasury and there was nothing you could do?”“Correct,” Mr Ridley said.

Cabinet Office and No10 had to push the Department of Health over ‘grave problem’ of care home testing

Tuesday 7 November 2023 11:43 , Archie Mitchell

Simon Ridley has been asked by the Covid inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC whether the Cabinet Office and No10 had to “push” the Department of Health to address the issue of testing NHS patients before discharging them into care homes and the testing of social care staff.

He was asked if they had to say “what is going on? What is being done about this? What can be done to solve these grave problems?”

Mr Ridley, the former head of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce, said: “Yes, that is broadly correct.”

‘Too many meetings’ during the pandemic, Simon Ridley

Tuesday 7 November 2023 11:13 , Archie Mitchell

Simon Ridley, the former head of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce, has said there were “too many meetings” during the pandemic and a “profusion of officialdom”.

Mr Ridley told the Covid inquiry it was “confusing” for staff inside the Cabinet Office and other departments, with those in the Department of Health “incredibly busy”.

“There was too much activity,” he said.

Government chaos over care home testing during the pandemic laid bare

Tuesday 7 November 2023 11:03 , Archie Mitchell

A series of emails shown to the Covid inquiry laid bare the chaos around the government’s drive to discharge NHS patients into care homes, many of whom had asymptomatic cases of Covid.

Dr Ben Warner, who appeared before the inquiry on Monday, sent an email on April 13 to top officials in No10 saying he was “increasingly concerned” about cases picked up in hospital being spread into care homes.

A Cabinet Office official then said he had spoken with the Department of Health’s lead on the issue, who said it was “not an issue of concern”.

Dr Warner urged the official to “push quite hard” on why it was not of concern.

The inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC asked if the issue “rumbled on” as to how concerning an issue it was and what was the extent of it. Giving evidence, Simon Ridley, the former head of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce, said “yes”.

Officials expressed ‘serious concerns’ about NHS patients being discharged into care homes

Tuesday 7 November 2023 10:46 , Archie Mitchell

The Covid inquiry has heard that multiple officials raised “quite serious concerns” about NHS patients being discharged into care homes.

At the end of March and beginning of April 2020, Simon Ridley told the inquiry there was an aim to get 15,000 people discharged from hospitals into social care settings to free up capacity in the health service.

But the inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC has shown evidence that a number of officials raised concerns about asymptomatic patients spreading the disease into care homes.

The inquiry was then shown an email from a No10 official on April 3, who said the government should consider “more extreme measures or guidance”.

“Given that once someone gets it in one of these places, many die,” the email said.

“We were concerned that there were problems in the care sector that needed to be addressed extremely quickly,” said Mr Ridley, who was head of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce.

‘We did not know how many people would need to shield,’ Simon Ridley

Tuesday 7 November 2023 10:20 , Archie Mitchell

The former head of the Cabinet Office Covid-19 taskforce has said the government “did not know with any great certainty” how many people would need to “shield” during the pandemic.

Simon Ridley told the Covid inquiry it would be in the “low millions”, but there was a “constant debate” about whether shielding support should have been offered solely to those who were clinically extremely vulnerable, or those who were also socially vulnerable or generally needed support.

The inquiry has started and giving evidence first is Simon Ridley...

Tuesday 7 November 2023 10:10 , Joe Middleton

Mr Ridley ran the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce during the pandemic.

Boris Johnson called Treasury the ‘pro-death squad’ during Covid pandemic, inquiry told

Tuesday 7 November 2023 09:54 , Joe Middleton

Archie Mitchell and Adam Forrest reported on Monday’s revelations from the inquiry

Boris Johnson joked about the Treasury being “the pro-death squad” during the pandemic because it wanted to ease lockdown restrictions quickly, Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries have revealed.

The former chief scientific adviser recorded a meeting in which the former PM said he wanted to lift all Covid restrictions by September 2020.

In an extracts from his diary, shown to the Covid inquiry, Sir Patrick said Mr Johnson “ended up by saying the team must bring in the pro-death squad from HMT [Her Majesty’s Treasury]”.

Former Boris Johnson aide to appear at Covid inquiry - live

Good morning

Tuesday 7 November 2023 09:48 , Joe Middleton

Good morning and welcome to the Covid-19 live blog covering the inquiry. Boris Johnson’s former top aide Lord Edward Udny-Lister and Simon Ridley, the former head of Cabinet Office for the Covid-19 taskforce, will appear to give evidence.

Live blog paused

Thursday 2 November 2023 21:15 , Lydia Patrick

We are now pausing the live blog but will be back tomorrow with all the latest from the Covid inquiry.

Yousaf accused of ‘secretive approach’ in row over WhatsApp Covid messages

Thursday 2 November 2023 21:00 , Lydia Patrick

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has defended his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon amid the ongoing row over WhatsApp messages during the Covid pandemic – as the Scottish Tories insisted she would have broken the law if she had deleted key correspondence.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said the “secretive approach” from the SNP government is treating families left bereaved by the virus “with contempt”.

Ms Sturgeon insisted this week that she has “nothing to hide”, but reports have claimed she destroyed messages.

Mr Ross hit out at an “auto-delete” policy he said had been introduced by the Scottish government. “This is the digital equivalent of building a bonfire to torch the evidence,” he said.

Yousaf accused of ‘secretive approach’ in row over WhatsApp Covid messages

Boris Johnson’s No 10 was toxic, sexist and devoid of humanity, says former top civil servant

Thursday 2 November 2023 20:00 , Lydia Patrick

Boris Johnson oversaw a “toxic” culture of sexism and complacency at No 10 during the Covid crisis, according to scathing evidence given by a former top civil servant to the public inquiry.

Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, said she could not recall “one day” on which Covid rules were followed in No 10 or the Cabinet Office – claiming that “hundreds” of officials and ministers broke the guidelines.

She also criticised an “absence of humanity” in No 10 and revealed that officials there were “laughing at the Italians” who were overwhelmed in the early stages of the crisis – with Mr Johnson expressing a breezy confidence that the UK would sail through the pandemic.

The former top civil servant also said Mr Johnson did nothing to stop ex-No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings’s misogynistic behaviour after it emerged that Mr Cummings had labelled her “that c***” and said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

Boris Johnson’s No 10 was toxic, sexist and devoid of humanity, says ex-civil servant

Blaming Boris is a cop-out – would a different PM have fared any better?

Thursday 2 November 2023 19:30 , Natalie Crockett

The Covid inquiry has already exposed how unfit Boris Johnson was to lead national efforts to combat a pandemic.

But, says Mary Dejevsky, it could yet reveal equally crucial failings in the wider government machinery – as well as some small saving graces

Read more here:

Just blaming Boris is a cop-out – would a different PM have fared any better?

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website