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

Ex-home secretary says police generally struck right balance between protest and Covid restrictions

Covid inquiry roundup: Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings provide worrying insight into No 10

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’

[31 October 2023 00:00 · Tara Cobham]

Johnson ‘cannot lead’, says UK’s top civil servant

The UK's top civil servant vented that Boris Johnson "cannot lead" amid pandemic-era frustration with the prime minister's leadership, according to WhatsApp messages shared with the Covid-19 inquiry.

Simon Case, who remains Cabinet Secretary, told Mr Johnson's then-chief adviser Dominic Cummings that the prime minister was making government "impossible".

The private correspondence, which took place as the Government grappled with the spread of Covid, came during the appearance of former top aide Martin Reynolds at Lady Hallett's probe.

Mr Case, who has temporarily stepped back from his role due to a "private medical matter", told Mr Cummings that the PM "cannot lead and we cannot support him in leading with this approach".

In the message, read at the hearing, Mr Case said: "I am at the end of my tether.

“He changes strategic direction every day (Monday we were all about fear of virus returning as per Europe, March etc - today we're in 'let it rip' mode cos (sic) the UK is pathetic, needs a cold shower etc).

"The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day. The team can't deliver anything under these circumstances. Decide and set direction - deliver - explain. Gov't isn't actually that hard but this guy is really making it impossible."

The UK’s top civil servant vented that Boris Johnson “cannot lead” amid pandemic-era frustration with the prime minister’s leadership, according to WhatsApp messages shared with the Covid-19 inquiry (PA Archive)

[30 October 2023 23:00 · Tara Cobham]

Recap: Partygate was ‘ultimate insult’ to Covid bereaved, inquiry told

A woman who lost her partner to Covid has hit out at UK Government officials who held illegal lockdown parties, saying there was a “culture of contempt for the ordinary people” throughout the pandemic.

Jane Morrison, of Scottish Covid Bereaved, told the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry on Friday of the hardship she faced after her partner, Jacky Morrison-Hart, died in 2020.

Ms Morrison-Hart, 49, had been admitted to hospital for a separate illness but contracted Covid-19 while at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

After battling the disease, she died a short time later in October 2020.

Ryan McDougall reports:

[30 October 2023 22:15 · Tara Cobham]

Humza Yousaf says he has not deleted pandemic-related messages

Scotland’s First Minister has said he has not deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, following press reports his predecessor and senior officials may have.

Last week a note to the chairman of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from one of its counsels said the inquiry was of the belief that the “majority” of informal messages, including on WhatsApp had “not been retained”.

Humza Yousaf said on Monday he had retained his messages, but that there had been a Scottish Government policy on social media messaging which advised their deletion after 30 days.

Press reports in recent days suggested former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch and chief medical officer Dr Sir Gregor Smith may have deleted messages either manually or through the use of the app’s auto-delete function.

The First Minister said on Monday: “I don’t know why there’s been press reports suggesting I’ve deleted my WhatsApp messages, that’s not true.

“I’ve retained my WhatsApp messages and, of course, whatever the Covid Inquiry asks for, I’ll be absolutely prepared to hand them over as I would for the Scottish inquiry too.”

Scotland’s First Minister has said he has not deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, following press reports his predecessor and senior officials may have (PA Wire)

[30 October 2023 21:00 · Tara Cobham]

Report into No 10 during pandemic found female staff ‘talked over'

An internal report into the culture at the top of Government in the early months of the pandemic found that female staff were being “talked over and ignored” and “bad behaviours” were being tolerated from senior leaders.

The report, by former top aide Martin Reynolds and then deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, was written in May 2020 amid concerns about discipline, “macho behaviour” and misogyny, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard on Monday.

Released as part of a batch of documents relevant to the inquiry, the report asked more than 45 people who worked closely with No 10 what could be done to better support the prime minister in May 2020.

Among the themes listed by the report are that culture was failing to get the best from people.

“Lots of people mentioned junior women being talked over or ignored,” the report summarised. “We need a modern culture of organised collaboration, not superhero bunfight.”

The report also found that “people are exhausted and stressed” and that “bad behaviours from senior leaders (are) tolerated”. Other themes included that there were “far too many meetings” taking up the time of senior leadership, and that No 10 was “always at war with someone”.

Mr Reynolds was asked about the report while giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday. He agreed with counsel that the report showed “dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos and a significant degree of misogyny”.

[30 October 2023 20:00 · Tara Cobham]

Vigil at Barnard Castle ahead of Cummings’ Covid inquiry appearance

Families held a vigil for Covid-19 victims at the site of Dominic Cummings’ eyesight-testing lockdown trip, ahead of his appearance at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Campaigners projected the message “228,040 Covid deaths – is that clear enough to read?” on to the walls of Barnard Castle on Monday.

The County Durham beauty spot made headlines during the pandemic when it was disclosed that Mr Cummings, former prime minister Boris Johnson’s chief adviser at the time, had taken a day trip there in April 2020, while the country was in lockdown.

Katie Dickinson reports:

[30 October 2023 19:45 · Tara Cobham]

Labour MP McDonald suspended over ‘between river and sea’ speech

Senior Labour MP Andy McDonald has had the party whip suspended for using the controversial phrase “between the river and the sea” in a pro-Palestine rally speech.

The MP for Middlesbrough used the phrase as he urged peace between Israelis and Palestinians at an event at the weekend.

Some pro-Palestinian protesters have chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” during recent demonstrations in London, despite controversy around the slogan’s meaning.

Lydia Patrick reports:

[30 October 2023 19:25 · Tara Cobham]

Rishi Sunak to hold live chat with Elon Musk during AI summit

Rishi Sunak is holding a live chat with tech mogul Elon Musk during the prime minister’s artificial intelligence (AI) at Bletchley Park this week.

Mr Sunak revealed that he would have a conversation with the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, on his social media platform this Thursday evening.

No 10 has denied Mr Sunak’s big summit is being snubbed by world leaders, since US president Joe Biden is among those skipping the gathering. Tech chiefs are set to join ministers and government officials at the two-day event.

Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent reports:

[30 October 2023 19:03 · Tara Cobham]

Johnson’s response to Covid was ‘mad and dangerous’ - top official

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approach to dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic was "mad and dangerous" and his constant indecision made it "impossible" to tackle the virus, the government's top civil servant told officials.

The exchanges between Simon Case, the government's most senior official, and officials in which he also described Britain's response in 2020 as a "terrible, tragic joke", were shown on Monday to the inquiry into how the government handled the worst health crisis in almost a century.

In the autumn of 2020 when the government was discussing how to suppress the virus, Case said of Johnson: "He cannot lead and we cannot support him under these circumstances. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day." He then wrote in capital letters: "IT HAS TO STOP".

Months earlier when the government was reopening after the first lockdown, Case said Johnson wanted to let the virus "rip" and compared Johnson's approach to the way US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who were known for dismissing the threat of Covid, were handling the crisis.

"This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous," Case told other colleagues.

A spokesman for Johnson, who will appear as a witness in the inquiry in the future, declined to comment.

Simon Case, the current Cabinet Secretary, vented about the Prime Minister during the pandemic (PA Archive)

[30 October 2023 18:48 · Tara Cobham]

Johnson’s ‘flip-flopping’ made it ‘impossible’ to tackle Covid, messages reveal

Scathing WhatsApp messages sent between Boris Johnson’s top team accused the former PM of creating chaos during the Covid crisis – complaining that he “flip-flopped” every day on direction and made it “impossible” to tackle the pandemic.

A series of startling new revelations emerged at the Covid inquiry, as messages shared between cabinet secretary Simon Case, chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance and top adviser Dominic Cummings exposed the disdain they held for Mr Johnson.

It also emerged that Mr Johnson’s key aide Martin Reynolds set messages to “disappear” in a key Covid WhatsApp group only weeks after the ex-PM promised the Covid inquiry.

Adam Forrest and Archie Mitchell report:

[30 October 2023 18:10 · Tara Cobham]

Vallance said Cummings’ Durham trip ‘clearly against lockdown rules’

Dominic Cummings’ press conference on his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle was described as a “car crash” by the former chief scientist, who said the journey had clearly gone against the rules at the time.

Sir Patrick Vallance, writing in his notebooks at the time in May 2020, also said he and England’s then-chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty felt No 10 officials were trying to “strong arm” them into appearing by Boris Johnson’s side at a Downing Street press conference afterwards.

Monday’s hearing at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard Mr Cummings, who became well-known to the public when news of his trip to the Co Durham beauty spot emerged, described as “the most empowered chief of staff Downing Street has seen”.

He will give evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday.

Aine Fox reports: