The trolley, 'useless f***pigs', and a hairdryer up the nose: What we learnt from this week's Covid Inquiry
04.11.2023 - 06:25
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A number of key Downing Street figures from the early days of the pandemic have been giving evidence at the Covid Inquiry this week.
From revelations about Boris Johnson believing 'the old should accept their fate', to troubling insights into the dysfunction at the heart of government, the chaos and lack of leadership during the crisis has been laid bare.
Here's what we learnt from the appearances of Dominic Cummings, Lee Cain and Helen MacNamara and others this week.
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The inquiry heard multiple references to Boris Johnson as 'the trolley' who tended to 'wild oscillations', while former No 10's communications director Lee Cain admitted that his former boss's erratic decision-making was 'rather exhausting'. And in WhatsApp messages shared with the inquiry, the UK's top civil servant Simon Case said that Mr Johnson 'cannot lead' and was making government 'impossible'.
It was not just the Prime Minister who came in for criticism, but the Cabinet Office and wider system. Mr Cummings made clear his views about the how the 'dysfunctional system' during a 'meltdown of the British state' failed to deal with the crisis.
Former top aide Martin Reynolds pointed to a 'systemic failure' to prepare for the pandemic and acknowledged that the realisation of the scale of the disaster had come 'late'.
Boris Johnson claimed coronavirus was 'nature's way of dealing with old people' as he refused to introduce lockdown restrictions that could have saved lives.
The Covid Inquiry heard how he failed to properly prepare