Hugo Keith: Here are some of the barrister’s key moments during the Covid inquiry
Here’s everything you need to know about Hugo Keith KC, the barrister who is quizzing Boris Johnson at the Covid-19 inquiry
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Your support makes all the difference.The three-year public inquiry looking into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic - has already seen damning revelations, WhatsApp messages and statements which have exposed the government and its failings.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson is at the centre of all of this, with a two-day hearing set to commence on Wednesday 6 December.
The team leading the Covid-19 inquiry includes Baroness Heather Hallet, a former Court of Appeal judge - who is chair of the inquiry. Ben Connah, inquiry Secretary and Martin Smith who works as a Solicitor to the inquiry.
Hugo Keith is currently leading as Counsel to the inquiry and plays a significant role in the investigation. So far, Mr Keigh has by no means made the probe an easy ride for those in the hot seat.
Here’s everything you need to know about Hugo Keith and the Covid-19 inquiry
Who is Mr Keith and what are some of his key moments?
Hugo Keith KC’s role is to give independent legal advice to Baroness Hallet, present the evidence, question the witnesses and lead the wider counsel.
In November, Michael Gove was shut down during his Covid inquiry hearing for suggesting the virus may have been man-made.
When Mr Gove was asked about the government’s lack of preparation for Covid as the pandemic unfolded, he admitted the government was “not as well prepared as we should have been”.
“The nature of our preparation was for a flu pandemic,” he told the inquiry.
He then went on to suggest the virus may be man-made adding: “It turned out that we were not as well prepared as we should have been, ideally.
“The nature of the fact the virus was novel … and this probably goes beyond the remit of the inquiry, but there is a significant body of judgment that believes the virus itself was man-made. And that presents a set of challenges as well.”
Mr Keith stepped in and told Mr Gove it was not the place to discuss the matter.
“It forms no part of the terms of reference of this inquiry Mr Gove, to address that somewhat divisive issue, so we are not going to go there,” he said.
Lead counsel KC also grilled Mr Gove about WhatsApp messages sent by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case saying working with Mr Johnson’s team was like "taming wild animals".
Matt Hancock’s Covid hearing
In another hearing, Mr Keith questioned former health secretary Matt Hancock on his claim that he first told the then PM, Mr Johnson to call a nationwide lockdown on 13 March 2020.
Mr Keith then showed Mr Hancock his own book, Pandemic Diaries, and asked why he had not made a note of the intervention at the time.
Mr Keith said: “It’s not in your diary, so-called, I should say, Mr Hancock. The entry for March 13 makes no reference to you telling the prime minister this vital piece of information that he should lock down immediately.”
“Telling the prime minister of this country, for the first time, that he had to call an immediate lockdown, is surely worthy of some recollection, is it not?,” he asked.
Mr Hancock responded and said: “I didn’t have full access to my papers for the writing of that, and this came to light in researching the papers ahead of this inquiry.”
He also referenced an email from himself to Mr Johnson which he said was a “suppression strategy” to tackle coronavirus.
Mr Keith, highly unimpressed by Mr Hancock’s reply, said: “The inquiry is well aware of that email… Do you use the word immediate or lockdown?”.
In response to Mr Keith, Mr Hancock said he was unable to answer the question as he did not have the email in front of him.
Matt Hancock Vs Dominic Cummings
During his hearing, Mr Hancock was also shown a WhatsApp message he sent to then-Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings in which he said the Government needed to “up a gear on winning the public argument”.
This included telling the public that “we are better prepared than other countries” and that the UK’s “contain phase” had been “better than other countries”.
Mr Hancock also accused Mr Cummings of creating a “culture of fear” in government which undermined the pandemic response.
The former health secretary also said Mr Cummings was a “malign actor” who subjected his staff to abuse during the pandemic.
“Was it unpleasant? Yes, it was unpleasant for a whole load of my staff as well who were subject to this sort of abuse from the chief adviser,” Mr Hancock told the inquiry.
“It went further, wider than I thought at the time, but my job was to lead the health and care system, the whole thing.”
Mr Hancock further rejected claims he lied to colleagues about having a plan for the outbreak, describing these as “false allegations”.
Instead, he pointed the finger at Mr Cummings for, he suggested, presiding over an atmosphere in which blame was attributed rather than allowing people to “spend all of their effort solving the problems”.
“It was deeply, deeply frustrating… we’ve discussed the structural problem which was essentially an adviser trying to take executive authority away from the prime minister for a period until the cabinet secretary stopped it and put in place the MIG (Ministerial Implementation Group) process,” Mr Hancock said.
Mr Cummings later rebuked Mr Hancock’s account on X/Twitter, accusing him of “flat out lying” by claiming to have pushed for a lockdown on March 13.
The former aide wrote: “Hancock flat out lying to Inquiry claiming he privately pushed for lockdown on 13th with PM – but admits there’s no evidence for it – and again on 14th in mtngs – when evidence from ALL others & paper trail is that he was still pushing Plan A herd immunity 13-15th – and his Perm Sec was still pushing Plan A on 18/3 to Cabinet Secretary (email uncovered by media) – the reason I physically stopped him coming to the second mtng on 14/3 was cos he was arguing AGAINST a change of plan & bullshitting everybody about herd immunity & ‘best prepared in the world’ (see evidence from multiple witnesses).”
Additional reporting from PA agency
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