The second round of public hearings examining the UK's handling of the COVID pandemic - Penny Mordaunt says her WhatsApp messages went missing

Health & Diet Health & Diet: In The News
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The government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme had been running that summer of 2020. At the time, there was fierce debate about the need for social-distancing measures to control the virus.

On Sunday 20 September 2020, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson called a Zoom meeting of scientists to discuss the government’s response to sharply rising Covid infections.

Dame Angela, then chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence, who co-chaired the influential SPI-M modelling group during the pandemic, was one of the attendees, along with her colleague Prof John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Then Chancellor Rishi Sunak also dialled in, along with senior Downing Street officials including Dominic Cummings, the government’s chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, and the then chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

And on Thursday, the Covid inquiry was shown a private WhatsApp exchange between Dame Angela and Prof Edmunds, sent at the time of the meeting, which refers to Rishi Sunak as "Dr Death, the Chancellor".

Prof Edmunds told the inquiry he was unable recall if that had been a specific reference to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which had subsidised food in pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues over the summer, while Covid cases had been low.

But in earlier testimony to the inquiry, he said he was “still angry” about the policy. “It was one thing to take your foot off the brake - but another to put your foot on the accelerator,” he told the inquiry.

Prof Edmunds told the inquiry 45,000 people had just died - and while the pub and restaurant sector needed support, the government could have just given them money.

“This was a scheme to encourage people to take an epidemiological risk,” he added.

The Downing Street meeting had also involved scientists from what Sir Patrick described in an email as the “let it rip” brigade. That included Carl Heneghan, a professor of evidence-based medicine at Oxford University, and his colleague Prof Sunetra Gupta - both of whom were critics of several lockdown-related measures.

And in her WhatsApp exchange, Dame Angela uses an expletive to refer to an individual - thought to be Prof Heneghan - and his evidence, to which Prof Edmunds replies: “Every statistic is wrong.”

Well, whatever Dame Angela said, I’m sure that it suited the individual and I’m delighted that she so harshly judged the incompetent yet deadly Sunak … :clap:

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Simon Case, who has been cabinet secretary since 2020, is expected to return to work in a few weeks. The absence comes as the government grapples with challenges at home and abroad, ahead of a general election expected next year.

Mr Case was appointed to his role when Boris Johnson was prime minister and has been embroiled in a string of controversies, including the Partygate scandal, during his time in post. His name has also come up in reports about the inquiry into bullying allegations against former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, and the arrangement of an £800,000 credit facility to Mr Johnson.

And last week, WhatsApp messages in which he complained about the influence of Mr Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, were released by the Covid-19 inquiry, which was expected to hear Mr Case give evidence in the coming weeks.

A Cambridge graduate with a PhD in political history, Mr Case ascended through the ranks of the civil service after joining in 2006. He held roles in the UK’s intelligence agency, GCHQ, and in the Royal Household on the way to the job top. At the age of 41, Ms Case became the youngest cabinet secretary in recent times.

Given his relative lack of experience, his appointment surprised senior civil servants and was seen by critics as a political move by Mr Johnson, the then-prime minister.

The inquiry will, presumably, continue.

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I saw the evidence given by Prof Edmunds about the second wave and the advice given to government. Specifically advice given to Johnson. The advice was lockdown for a second time but do it early. The aim was to get control of Covid early or wait for the cases to rise and thus let Covid get control. Which would force a lockdown anyway. And more deaths, and a more exhausted NHS. Guess what Johnson did?

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Obviously, Johnson heeded the advice and went for the hard, fast lockdown thus saving millions of lives … :mini:

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Actually, BJ and Dr Death first opened up pubs, restaurants (Eat Out to Help Out) and hairdressers then later theatres, bowling alleys and soft play areas, thus setting off the second wave of the pandemic … :scream_cat:

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/health-67243378/page/2

Today’s session of the Covid inquiry is starting, with some initial remarks from Baroness Hallett.

Martin Reynolds has just been sworn in as the day’s first witness. He was the principal private secretary to Boris Johnson - who was then prime minister - from 2019 until he resigned in February 2022. He was caught up in the Partygate scandal when it emerged he had written an email inviting around 200 colleagues to “socially-distanced drinks” during the first lockdown.

He was named 24 times in Sue Gray’s report into the events, attending some of the gatherings himself while helping to organise two of them, and earning him the nickname ‘Party Marty’.

He quit his Downing Street role in February 2022 in the aftermath of the scandal and was given an Order of the Bath award for public service in Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Public service, my R’s … :roll_eyes:

Martin Reynolds is asked about the policy for keeping private messages on Whatsapp and email accounts for Downing Street. He says in this period, meaning early 2020, the use of Whatsapp became more extensive. However, he says decisions were “taking place in the normal way”, and not over Whatsapp. These are exchanges which people “could have been doing previously in phone calls and in corridors”.

“You’re not suggesting are you that the vast majority of these Covid related WhatsApps are irrelevant?” Hugo Keith KC asks.

Martin Reynolds was then asked about a group called ‘PM Updates’ which appeared to be mainly used for exchanging official information between the Prime Minister and senior civil servants.

By March and April 2021 there were growing calls for a Covid public inquiry; it was officially announced by Boris Johnson in May that year. On 15 April the inquiry heard that Reynolds turned on the disappearing messages function on a group named PM Updates - meaning that all new messages would disappear from the group seven days after they were sent.

Asked about this in the inquiry, he said he “could not recall” exactly why he turned on the function. He said it “could have been” that he was worried about someone screen-grabbing the exchanges and leaking them to the press.

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Of course not. Nothing to do with the likely inquiry, nothing to do with all the incriminating messages, nothing to do with panicking.

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The inquiry has heard from Martin Reynolds, the ex-senior aide for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Let’s get you up to speed on what’s been said so far:

  • Baroness Hallett, chair of the inquiry, opened today’s proceedings by warning witnesses against sharing evidence before it’s made public
  • WhatsApp and email exchanges have been under scrutiny today. In April 2021, Martin Reynolds turned on the disappearing messages function in a PM updates group. He says he cannot recall why
  • From messages in December 2021, the inquiry was told that Boris Johnson didn’t think his messages would become publict to the inquiry
  • On the Covid response, Reynolds told the inquiry they should have been “far more vigorously testing our arrangements for what was coming” and that Downing Street was "not properly prepared"
  • He agreed with counsel for the inquiry Hugo Keith KC, that the government failed to get on top of the problem of Covid
  • And the relationship between Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson was in the spotlight. Reynolds said a lot of time in early 2020 was spent trying to cope with changes introduced by Cummings
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Five things you need to know this lunchtime

This morning’s session of the Covid inquiry has been hearing from Martin Reynolds, the ex-senior aide for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He’ll be back for more after lunch.

Here’s what the inquiry’s heard so far today:

  • The government’s communication methods during the pandemic have been under scrutiny - with WhatsApp messages and emails being the focal points of Reynolds’ questioning so far. In April 2021, Reynolds turned on the disappearing messages function in one group. He said he couldn’t recall why, but insisted most of the content would have been duplicated in official emails
  • Reynolds said the Cabinet Office was not adequately prepared for the scale of the pandemic, and acknowledged that, in hindsight, ministers should have been “far more vigorously looking and testing out” their plans
  • When asked about ten days in February 2020 which coincided with the half-term break - when Johnson was apparently not given any information about the growing crisis - Reynolds said he “probably should” have done more. But he said there were other officials who could also have got in touch with the PM
  • And the relationship between Dominic Cummings and Johnson was in the spotlight too this morning. Reynolds said a lot of time in early 2020 was spent trying to cope with changes introduced by Cummings
  • After lunch we’re also expecting to hear from Imran Shafi - who was another private secretary - and Johnson’s former director of communications Lee Cain

The Tory government was in a complete shambles Reynolds says his job was organisation not advice and evades all responsibility for involvement in decision-making.

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Now it would be interesting to know what these changes were and why Cummings put them in place.

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I’m guessing that it’s to do with this:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2023/oct/30/public-services-worse-conservatives-election-thinktank-covid-inquiry-uk-politics-latest?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-653f92418f08b48bad7c4ade#block-653f92418f08b48bad7c4ade

A: This was when Cummings was talking about bringing in “weirdos and misfits” to work in No 10.

And there was unease in the civil service about the “shitlist” of people whose jobs were thought to be at risk.

There was, I think, quite a bit of unease in the civil service around, and excuse my language, the so-called shitlist of people who were thought to be risks in what was perceived to be a potentially more muscular approach to the civil service.

This all meant among senior people a lot of energy and attention was focused elsewhere.

Q: Was the tension with Cummings a problem in January and February 2020?

Reynolds says in many ways Cummings was the most empowered chief of staff he had seen in No 10. But the PM did not work exclusively on the basis of advice from Cummings. He liked “a multiplicity of different arguments and advice” from which he could choose. He say Ed Lister, another adviser, was also very important at that time.

Reynolds says Cummings was not always pursuing the same policy as the PM. HS2 was a good example. (Cummings wanted to scrap it, but Johnson was in favour.)

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The Guardian is more revealing:

Reynolds says he cannot recall why Johnson received no Covid updates for 10 days as global crisis worsening

Keith says there was a 10-day period, between 14 February 2020 and 24 February, when Johnson was getting no messages about Covid.

Reynolds says he cannot recall why.

Q: Was it half-term?

Reynolds says Keith may know more than him.

Q: Did you ask why the PM was not being kept in the loop?

Reynolds says he probably should have kept him informed.

Keith goes on:

Before the end of half-term SPI-M [the Scientific Pandemic Influenza group on Modelling – an expert committee] had confirmed sustained transmission, Sage had noted the Public Health England could only cope with five Coronavirus cases per week. And of course, the United Kingdom became aware of lockdowns in 10 municipalities in Italy.

Keith asks how Reynolds reacted.

Reynolds says he was very concerned. He asked how the UK might respond in similar circumstances.

Q: “Did you say we have a major problem now, we’ve got to get in touch with the prime minister, we must raise the issue of whether or not there are urgent steps we’re required to take straight away?”

Reynolds says he did not.

What a waste of space Reynolds is … :roll_eyes:

Keith says on Friday 13 March Dominic Cummings and others held a meeting where they expressed alarm about what might happen. Reynolds says he was there for part of it.

Keith says that the following week, before the full lockdown was announced, Johnson oscillated between backing a lockdown and not backing one, according to some accounts.

Reynolds says he does not know why Johnson held private meeting with Lord Lebedev, the Evening Standard owner, as Covid crisis was erupting.

At the hearing Keith presented extracts from Johnson’s diary. They showed that on Wednesday 18 March Johnson had a call with Lebedev lasting 25 minutes (from 7.42pm to 8.07pm). And the next day they had a meeting lasting 41 minutes (from 5.56pm to 6.37pm). Ben Gascoigne, Johnson’s deputy chief secretary, and Lee Cain, the director of communications, also attended.

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Internal report revealed ‘dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos, and misogyny’ in Covid decision making at No 10, inquiry told

Keith says Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary at the time, wrote a report in May 2020 proposing a different structure to deal with Covid. He says the report described “dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos, and a significant degree of misogyny” in how meetings were run and decisions were taking place.

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What? How on earth would that have come about under the Johnson administration? Oh.

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Keith is now asking about Dominic Cummings’ breach, or alleged breach, of lockdown rules and the Barnard Castle affair.

The thread I created for this ran for ages and Cummings’ excuses provided much levity in a depressing period.

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Hi

If we want the messages, all we need to do is to ask the French or the Chinese for them.

Neither will give them, the French are absolutely fed up with our Government blaming them.

The French , constantly blamed by us have achieved a 70% reduction in Migrants leaving their shores,

We have still not done what we promised to make the UK less open to these Economic Migrants.

We have not kept to our side of the agreement.

The Chinese, well, they will just wait until they think they can inflict the maximum damage on us before they release them.

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Imran Shafi , Johnson’s private secretary for public services, is now giving evidence.

Johnson did not think Covid was ‘big deal’ in early February 2020, inquiry told

Q: Would you agree there was a high degree of dysfuncationality in dealing with the PM?

Yes, says Shafi.

Q: When Covid starting to become a global concern, did Johnson suggest it was not a big deal?

Shafi replies:

I don’t think he thought it was a big deal at that time.

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The afternoon session was filled with Shafi’s notes, many of which contained derogatory remarks from BJ, creating a very unpleasant impression of the PM’s government.

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Apparently they have been shown a hand written note from just before the first lockdown saying “why are we going to wreck the economy for people who are going to die anyway?”

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Indeed they have:

In a day of explosive evidence, one of Mr Johnson’s former aides also said he thought Mr Johnson had questioned why the economy was being destroyed “for people who will die anyway soon”.

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The aide, Imran Shafi, told the inquiry he believed the former PM had made the remark during a meeting with then-chancellor Rishi Sunak in March 2020, around the time of the UK’s first lockdown.

I was instantly reminded of:
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pms-former-adviser-confirms-johnson-said-let-bodies-pile-high-2021-05-26/

Well, that’s what happened:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK

Deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate

231,332