09 November 2023 - Covid Inquiry in the UK
Covid inquiry hears more testimony about Johnson’s ‘brutal and useless’ No 10
Peter Walker (The Guardian, 08/11/2023)
Mark Sedwill, the UK’s most senior civil servant at the start of Covid, viewed Boris Johnson’s government as “brutal and useless” and did not trust Matt Hancock, then health secretary, to be truthful, the inquiry into the pandemic has been told.
Ex-top UK civil servant urged Boris Johnson to sack Matt Hancock, Covid inquiry hears
Laura Hughes (The Financial Times, 08/11/2023)
Lord Mark Sedwill, cabinet secretary between 2018 and 2020, suggested in a private message to Simon Case, then Number 10 permanent secretary, that Hancock should be fired to “save lives and protect the NHS” in 2020.
Covid inquiry live: Priti Patel prepares to give evidence as Johnson’s decision-making branded ‘exhausting’
Joe Middleton, Archie Mitchell andAdam Forrest (The Independent, 09/11/2023)
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel is preparing to give evidence at the Covid inquiry this morning, where she is likely to face questions about her approach to controlling the border and “heavy handed” policing of lockdown rules.
The Covid Inquiry is exposing lockdown’s dodgy models
Michael Simmons (The Spectator, 07/11/2023)
Did we lock down on a false premise? Yesterday was Ben Warner’s turn at the Covid Inquiry. He was an adviser, and one of the ‘tech bros’ brought in by Dominic Cummings to advise No. 10 on data. He was present at many of the early Sage – and other – meetings where the government’s established mitigation (herd immunity) plan was switched to the suppression (lockdown) strategy.