Former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has criticised the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “impossible flip-flopping” and “bipolar decision-making” in diary entries read out at the start of stage two of the COVID-19 inquiry. The inquiry seeks to examine political decision-making and how the government responded to the pandemic. Sir Patrick served as the government’s chief scientific adviser from 2018 to 2023. Other ministers, advisors, civil servants and health officials will also give evidence as part of the inquiry.
In one diary note, Sir Patrick recorded witnessing “chaos as usual” in Downing Street after a meeting on social distancing. He also wrote that during a meeting regarding the two-metre rule, it became “abundantly clear” that nobody in Downing Street or the Cabinet Office had read or taken the time to understand the scientific advice on the topic. Referring to ministry use of science advisors, he suggested that ministers inappropriately used them as “human shields.”
Sir Patrick also commented on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “completely inconsistent” decision-making during the September 2020 discussions on a possible “circuit breaker” lockdown. Meanwhile, long COVID support groups have reported that Mr Johnson used derogatory language to refer to the condition in October 2020. The groups’ representative, Anthony Metzer KC, said that Mr Johnson dismissed the Department of Health and Social Care’s guidance on long COVID as “bollocks.”
During the inquiry, lead counsel Hugo Keith KC read out WhatsApp exchanges between Downing Street officials. These allegedly showed “disharmony” between Number 10 and the DHSC as well as factional infighting and a “toxic atmosphere” during the pandemic. Mr Keith also commented on repeated references to Mr Johnson’s loss of confidence in former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, stating that “a number of officials and advisers held him in low regard.
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