Covid inquiry live: MacNamara says Johnson failed to stop Cummings’ ‘misogynistic’ behavior

Former top civil servant Helen MacNamara condemned a “toxic” and “macho” culture at the highest levels of Boris Johnson’s government during the Covid pandemic.

Giving evidence to the official inquiry on Wednesday, Ms MacNamara, who served as deputy cabinet secretary and ethics chief, said the “female perspective” was missed during the pandemic because of a “macho” culture and sexism in Downing Street.

She said women were “ignored and excluded” and some who had worked with the Cabinet Office for years felt they had “become invisible overnight”.

Ms MacNamara also said she was “disappointed” that Mr Johnson had not called out an expletive-laden message written about her by Dominic Cummings.

On Tuesday, Mr Cummings apologised for the language used in a series of foul-mouthed messages criticising members of the government - including the one referred to by Ms MacNamara - but denied misogyny, saying he had been “much ruder” about the men.

Key Points

• MacNamara: There was a toxic macho culture at top of government

• Officials were ‘laughing at the Italians’ at start of pandemic

• Top female civil servant responds to Cummings’ foul-mouthed WhatsApps

• Cummings calls MacNamara a ‘c***’ in series of disparaging messages

• Government’s Covid plan was ‘pretty much a joke’, Cummings says

Summary of the day’s evidence session

17:24 , Matt Mathers

During her evidence earlier, Helen MacNamara recalled the government being unprepared for the pandemic - a theme that has come up repeatedly during the inquiry.

She also described a “macho” and “toxic” culture at the top government and criticised Boris Johnson for not condemning a message sent to him by Dominic Cummings in which he referred to Ms MacNamara as a “c*nt”.

The former deputy cabinet secretary and ethics chief, one of the first to confirm she had been fined over a lockdown-busting event, also revealed that she could hardly recall a day when Covid rules were followed in Downing Street.

On one of the few days when the rules were adhered to, she said that members of the cabinet “moaned” about it afterward”.

Before the pandemic hit the UK, she claimed that officials at the heart of government “laughed” at how the crisis was being handled in Italy, where hospitals had been overwhelmed by the virus.

16:57 , Matt Mathers

Baroness Hallett has closed today’s session after hearing evidence from Helen MacNamara and Professor David Halpern.

Miss what happened earlier? Stay tuned for a recap of all of the action from today and yesterday.

Lots of ‘good people’ trying to do ‘the right thing'

16:49 , Matt Mathers

Lots of “good people” trying to do “the right thing” characterised the early part of the pandemic, professor Halpern tells the inquiry.

He said that one of the challenges he faced was translating scientific knowledge into advice that members of the public could understand, citing the Covid tracing app as one example.

He adds that he was promised the app would be available to use with “two to three weeks” but its delivery ended up taking six months.

Boris Johnson asked if blowing hairdryer up nose could kill Covid, says ex-aide Cummings

16:36 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson asked whether Covid could be killed by blowing a hairdryer up the nose, according to his former top aide Dominic Cummings.

The theory was quickly dismissed at the time by scientists as a crank idea with no foundation.

Jane Dalton reports:

Boris asked if blowing hairdryer up nose could kill Covid, says ex-aide Cummings

Behavioural Insights Team dismissed as ‘not understanding the science'

16:34 , Matt Mathers

Members of the Behavioural Insights Team were dismissed as “not understanding the science” at Sage meetings, Dr Halpern tells the Inquiry.

In written evidence, Dr Halpern said it was “some, not all” members of Sage failed to take onboard his views and those of his team.

He adds that “groupthink” affected decision-making at the outset of the pandemic.

‘Overconfidence’ in expert medical community led to presumtion Covid would be ‘flu-like'

16:20 , Matt Mathers

“Overconfidence” in the expert medical community at the outset of the pandemic led to a presumption that Covid would be a “flu-like wave”, Dr Halpern tells the inquiry.

This “blinded it to the pursuit of near-supression as a viable option and an expanded tracing system in particula,” he said in written evidence.

He added that as a result, “our decision-making process was vulnerable to systemic error”. Dr Halpern adds this “overconfidence” was the most “fundamental misstep” in the UK’s response to the virus.

Public were more influenced by Covid secure restaurants than money-off vouchers

16:10 , Matt Mathers

Research into the Eat out to Help Out scheme showed people were more likely to be influenced by Covid secure restaurants than money-off vouchers, Dr David Halpern has told the inquiry.

Participants were shown scenarios where different measures were put in place at restaurants, such as waiters wearing face masks and social distancing being observed.

This was compared to them being given £10 off tokens.

“There was a very clear result. People were very strongly influenced by anything what you might call Covid secure,” Dr Halpern said.

Public were ‘confused’ by the tiered lockdown system

16:02 , Matt Mathers

The British public were “confused” by the tiered lockdown system, Dr David Halpern has told the Covid inquiry, Archie Mitchell reports.

The behavioural scientist said the rules were “getting more complicated”, people were “struggling to remember what they were” and some did not even know what tier they were in.

And referring to the government’s “stay alert” slogan, Dr Halpern said it was so bad because it “tells you to worry and doesn’t tell you what to do”, which is the “worst combination”.

Dominic Cummings Barnard Castle trip was ‘atrocious’

15:58 , Matt Mathers

Dr David Halpern has said Dominic Cummings’s notorious lockdown trip to Barnard Castle was “very unhelpful”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The behavioural science expert giving evidence to the Covid inquiry said it was “extremely less than ideal”.

“People are very influenced by what they see others doing,” Dr Halpern said, claiming people are more likely to litter if they see other people doing so.

“It blows a hole in public confidence if you break the rules and then try to wriggle out of it,” he said.

Asked if the Barnard Castle trip was a “textbook example of what not to do”, Dr Halpern said it was “atrocious”.

No10 colleague corrected Dr David Halpern’s note from ‘not ready’ to ‘f*****’

15:53 , Matt Mathers

Dr David Halpern has told the Covid inquiry how he was in a meeting in No10 when the “penny dropped” about the country’s pandemic preparedness, Archie Mitchell reports.

After writing the country is “not ready” for Covid in his notebook, a colleague, data expert and Dominic Cummings ally Ben Warner crossed it out, writing instead that “we are f*****”.

‘Mistake to use the phrase herd immunity’, Dr David Halpern

15:42 , Matt Mathers

Dr David Halpern said it was a “mistake” to have used the term “herd immunity” in the early stages of the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

And he said former Downing Street comms director Jack Doyle gave him the “hairdryer treatment” for using the term “cocooning” to refer to shielding older people in the same interview.

The president of the Behavioural Insights Team said the term was used in internal discussions as a “shortcut”, but was not government policy.

Of the phone call with Mr Doyle, Dr Halpern said: “They were very angry about it. But they were particularly angry about the word cocoon.

“My memory of it was because the word hadn’t been used in public, particularly, and they didn’t really want to get into that issue because it hadn’t been talked about publicly.”

Watch: MacNamara cannot recall one day when lockdown rules obeyed in No. 10

15:32 , Matt Mathers

Ministers with kids in private schools did not understand ‘experience of whole population’

14:54 , Matt Mathers

Speaking near the end of her evidence, Helen MacNamara said there was not enough thinking in government about children in state schools who make up the “vast majority” of those in the country, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said while her own children are “fortunate in many ways”, they do not have the same privileges as those whose parents are in rooms taking decisions in Whitehall.

Similarly to the government’s oversight of potential victims of domestic abuse, Ms MacNamara said states should be able to “know and understand the whole population in your decision-making”.

“It causes problems if you think that your life is the same as everybody else’s,” she added.

14:51 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara has now finished giving evidence.

Professor David Halpern, president and founding director of the Behavioural Insights team, is now giving testimony.

The team, set up in 2010 during the coalition government years, uses behavioural science to help ministers make better policy decisions.

It advised the government during the Covid pandemic.

‘Boris Johnson wanted it all and changed his mind often’

14:46 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson “wanted it all and changed his mind often”, with his decision-making “swinging between extremes”, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

One of Britain’s top civil servants during the pandemic has said the then prime minister was caught between his “undoubted liberal instincts” and “the extremes of shutting everything down”.

“In reality all of the discussion and debate and choices were in the middle,” she told the Covid inquiry.

‘Elastic capacity of NHS meant staff working themselves into the ground,’ inquiry hears

14:37 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said she realised during the pandemic that the “flexible” nature of NHS capacity meant “the capacity of people working in the NHS to work themselves into the ground to keep people alive”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said officials “kept being told” that NHS capacity was elastic, but soon realised the knock-on impact would devastate the health service.

Ms MacNamara told the Covid probe that “what is happening now” in the NHS - with record waiting lists and industrial strife - is a consequence of “stretching it too far” during the pandemic.

Top officials ignored whether PPE fit women’s bodies for weeks

14:31 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara and Downing Street’s deputy chief of staff Cleo Watson had “lots of conversations” about why top officials were not addressing PPE for women, Archie Mitchell reports.

After Ms MacNamara, Britain’s second most senior civil servant at the time, raised the issue with the head of the Cabinet Office’s Covid taskforce, it took two weeks for it to be discussed at a meeting with the prime minister.

MacNamara: ‘Women have died as a result of this'

14:18 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara sent a plea to a Cabinet Office colleague saying “women have died” as a result of not enough being done to consider how the pandemic was affecting them, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said issues that stemmed from a sexist culture in Whitehall included weeks of confusion about whether women could access abortion during the lockdown and not making provision for victims of domestic abuse.

“It is very difficult to draw any conclusion other than women have died as a result of this,” she told a colleague in an email seen by the Covid inquiry.

Calling for tangible changes, she said: “It isn’t enough that we keep observing this phenomenon.”

'Lack of female perspective led to disproportionate focus on shooting and fishing’

14:15 , Matt Mathers

The lack of female perspective when key decisions were made led to a disproportionate focus on football, hunting, shooting and fishing, Helen MacNamara has told the Covid inquiry, Archie Mitchell reports.

“There was a serious lack of thinking about domestic abuse and the vulnerable, about carers and informal networks for how people look after each other in families and communities,” the ex-top civil servant said.

Ms MacNamara also said there was a lack of guidance for women who might be pregnant or were pregnant and what those who were key workers should do.

She cited the “absence from the room” of women, and said many key issues affecting women were not even considered.

‘Nobody in centre of government understood NHS,’ MacNamara

14:13 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara has told the Covid inquiry she cannot remember anyone working in the centre of government who “understood how the NHS operated, Archie Mitchell reports.

One of Britain’s top civil servants during the pandemic, Ms MacNamara said the Treasury and national security are overrepresented, while the management of the state is underrepresented.

She said it was something she “observed” at the time, but it is now “striking” and speaks to “what needs to be different in the future”.

MacNamara: ‘Disappointing’ Johnson didn’t pick up on misogynistic language

13:50 , Matt Mathers

It was disappointing that Boris Johnson did not pick up on “violent and misogynistic language” from Dominic Cummings, Helen MacNamara said.

Asked about Mr Cummings’ messages in which he made expletive-laden remarks about her, the former deputy cabinet secretary said: “It is also revealing of exactly the wrong attitude to the civil service. I was doing my job as a civil servant and I am confident about that.

“The way in which it was considered appropriate to describe what should happen to me, yes, as a woman, but, yes, as a civil servant, it is disappointing to me that the prime minister didn’t pick him up on the use of some of that violent and misogynistic language.”

MacNamara: I hav ‘profound regret’ about providing karaoke machine

13:40 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara, who provided a karaoke machine for a lockdown-busting leaving-do on June 18, 2020, said she had “profound regret” about the situation.

She said she was worried about the “kind of culture” that staff were working in and the need for them to have space to spend time together.

“My profound regret is for the damage that’s been caused to so many people because of it, as well as just the mortifying experience of seeing what that looks like and how rightly offended everybody is in retrospect,” she said.

“I absolutely knew and thought it was actually important for there to be space for – particularly the private office – to be able to gather together and spend time together.

“That was entirely because of the kind of culture that they were working in and entirely because I was really worried about individuals breaking and suffering, and whether they were going to be okay, and how important their colleagues were to each other.

“I’m saying none of that in excuse of my own misjudgment. I’m saying none of that in excuse of thinking any of these things were okay. But it was a much more complex situation than has allowed to be presented for lots of different reasons.”

She added: “Mainly, I feel very strongly that is unfair on the junior civil servants who were caught up in it.”

Former civil servant says Dominic Cummings texts to ‘handcuff her’ are ‘horrible’

13:20 , Matt Mathers

A former senior civil servant has said the Whatsapp messages sent by Dominic Cummings were “horrible”, after he called her a “c***” in an exchange with then-prime minister Boris Johnson.

Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, said the texts were “both surprising and not surprising”, and that Mr Cummings was “frustrated” with her, while she said she was just “doing my job as a civil servant”.

Holly Evans reports:

Former civil servant says Dominic Cummings texts to ‘handcuff her’ are ‘horrible’

Session paused for lunch

13:09 , Matt Mathers

The inquiry is taking a break for lunch, resuming at 1.45pm to continue hearing evidence from Ms MacNamara.

In the meantime, we’ll post some highlights from her evidence this morning as well as anything we might have missed.

Live updates will resume after lunch.

Matt Hancock ‘pretended to bat away criticism like a cricketer’

13:02 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara has described a bizarre situation in which she offered to help Matt Hancock in case he was not able to cope with the “enormity” of his role as health secretary during the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

When the former top civil servant went to check on Mr Hancock, trying to “reassure him”, he said he was “loving” the responsibility.

He then “took up a batsman’s stance outside the Cabinet Room and said: “They bowl them at me, I knock them away,” according to Ms MacNamara.

Helen MacNamara piles into Matt Hancock criticism

12:56 , Matt Mathers

Matt Hancock was “regularly” telling people things that they later discovered were not true, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The then health secretary “time and time again” assured officials that plans were in place for dealing with Covid, and Helen MacNamara said she was “surprised” to learn that they were not.

This was part of a pattern of behaviour from Mr Hancock, she told the Covid inquiry.

The former top civil servant said there was a “lack of confidence” from No10 that what the then health secretary said was happening “was actually happening”.

She said: “What we experienced that was said in a meeting as being under control or going to be delivered or something that was fine, subsequently a matter of days at times or weeks later we would discover that was not in fact the case.

“You don’t usually get everything’s okay and then two weeks later not only is it not okay it was not even there.

“That is very unusual”.

Civil servants making decisions were ‘pretty privileged’

12:46 , Matt Mathers

Civil servants making decisions during the pandemic were always “miles away from most people in the UK”, Helen MacNamara has told the Covid inquiry, Archie Mitchell reports.

“For example, in policy discussions when the restrictions were loosening, I found myself explaining that even people who were lucky enough to have a back garden might not have separate back gate or outside loo,” she said.

The former top civil servant said the full cabinet were “a bit more grounded” and better at bringing a “wider perspective”, but were “not asked their opinion very often”.

MacNamara also said that cabinet government was essentially abandoned during the pandemic and that secretaries of state were not properly briefed on the science.

"I was concerned about what they saw as circumnavigating a cabinet governance and you were increasingly worried that the cabinet themselves were not being given a full scientific picture or able to properly be part of accountable decision making,” she said.

Culture of leaking ‘corrosive’ and caused ‘rushed’ decisions, MacNamara

12:36 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said the culture of leaking in Downing Street and Whitehall was “corrosive” and forced “rushed” decision-making, Archie Mitchell reports.

“I think it’s very important that there is good reporting,” she told the Covid inquiry.

But she said when “somebody decides to leak something ill-formed” it leads to everyone having to “rush around trying to come up with what the real answer ought to be in hours rather than days”.

Helen MacNamara was warned about Partygate chaos

12:31 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara, who brought a karaoke machine to a lockdown-busting party in Downing Street, was warned that socialising during the pandemic showed “utter contempt to the electorate”, Archie Mitchell reports.

After suggesting greater socialising among staff to boost morale, the former top civil servant was sent a note by John Owen, then private secretary to Mark Sedwill, saying: “Fundamentally disagree with this. When we are telling the country to socially distance it shows utter contempt to the electorate to openly flout those rules.

“Plus when we are going on about how tech and data will save the day for absolutely everything to admit that we can’t use it is not acceptable.”

MacNamara: ‘Hundreds of civil servants were on the wrong side of the line’ on Covid rules

12:28 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said “hundreds” of civil servants and ministers would have found themselves on the “wrong side” once the police drew a line at Boris Johnson’s Partygate birthday bash, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant told the Covid inquiry: “When the police drew the line of what was acceptable or not acceptable as the birthday gathering in the Cabinet Room, when they said that was the wrong side of the line, I’m certain that there are hundreds of civil servants and potentially ministers who in retrospect think they were the wrong side of that line.”

Helen MacNamara: ‘Parties should never have happened’

12:25 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said lockdown-busting Downing Street parties should “never have happened”, including one to which she took a karaoke machine, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said she thought that by getting people to talk to each other more, “they might in fact be able to work better together”.

She told the Covid inquiry she was “not partying in No10, I was either at work or at home”.

And she said she would find it hard to pick “one day” on which the Covid rules were followed in Downing Street.

MacNamara recalls that the one time was a cabinet meeting and that everybody present “moaned” afterward that the rules were followed.

MacNamara: ‘Definitely a toxic culture, Cummings texts were horrible’

12:14 , Matt Mathers

The former top civil servant described as a “c***” by Dominic Cummings said it was “horrible” to read his messages, Archie Mitchell reports.

But she said it was “both surprising and not surprising”.

She said Mr Cummings, then chief of staff to Boris Johnson, was “frustrated” with her.

But she said she was just “doing my job as a civil servant”.

“All I was doing was working in the service of the then prime minister,” Ms MacNamara told the Covid inquiry.

She added: “It is disappointing to me that the prime minister did not pick him up on the use of some of that violent and misogynistic language.”

‘Female perspective was getting missed’ through Covid, MacNamara says

12:05 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said the “female perspective” was being missed during the pandemic because of a “macho” culture and sexism in Downing Street, Archie Mitchell reports.

She said women were “ignored and excluded” and some who had worked with the Cabinet Office for years felt they had “become invisible overnight”.

This led to failures in policy areas such as domestic abuse and abortion.

Superhero bunfight’ culture would not have developed under Theresa May

12:00 , Matt Mathers

A “macho” culture which led to Downing Street resembling a “superhero bunfight” would not have developed under Theresa May’s leadership, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant produced a report in May 2020 which found bad behaviour by senior leaders being tolerated, junior women being talked over and ignored and “too many people behaving as if they had been parachuted in to save the day”.

Asked at the official Covid inquiry about the report, Ms MacNamara said there was not “any world” in which the culture could have developed under Mrs May.

‘Maddening bureaucracy’ meant Downing Street did not have hand sanitiser for seven months

11:48 , Matt Mathers

“Maddening bureaucracy” meant it took seven months for the Cabinet Office to install a hand sanitiser station by the door that links it to No10, Archie Mitchell reports.

Helen MacNamara described it as a “\door with a pin pad that anyone who worked for the Prime Minister was constantly having to touch on their way through”.

And she said there was “no proactive attempt to recognise and create the kind of HR support that a team like this needs”.

The former top civil servant said even she was “surprised” by how long it took and she “hopes” people are now being better looked after.

“As an organisation the Cabinet Office excels in creating the kind of faceless bureaucracy that is maddening even to those who are theoretically in positions of power,” she said.

The hand sanitiser was a “small but demonstrative example” of the “neglect” shown to staff.

‘No magic cupboard’ for dealing with crises, MacNamara

11:43 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said there was “no magic cupboard” for dealing with crises such as Boris Johnson’s almost-fatal battle with Covid during the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

“It is fair to say that there is no magic cupboard you can open in the Cabinet Office that has this is what to do in the circumstances,” she said.

She added: "It felt like working or living in a sort of dystopian nightmare, that just when one terrible thing happened then the next terrible thing was about to happen.

"And the prime minister being so gravely ill was obviously awful."

Downing Street officials were ‘laughing at the Italians’, MacNamara

11:28 , Matt Mathers

Officials and ministers in Downing Street were “laughing at the Italians” in the early stages of the pandemic, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said she wanted to help Britons “do the right thing” to minimise the spread of Covid at the beginning of 2020.

But she blamed a “supreme confidence” in Downing Street which left her feeling “patronised” for raising the point that people wanted to “know the right thing to do”.

She told the Covid inquiry: “If we could just tell people what the right and kind and proper thing to do is, people will do that.

“And sitting there and saying it was great and sort of laughing at the Italians just felt… well it felt how it sounds.”

‘Absence of humanity in No10,’ MacNamara says

11:24 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said there was an “absence of humanity” in Downing Street which led to the lack of a decision being made about prisoners during the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said there were “systemic problems” which caused “substantial issues” in managing the government’s response to Covid, including:

• “The sucking into No 10 of too much of the decision making by the political machine and this compounding a narrowed perspective.

• “A general lack of knowledge or understanding of how large parts of the state operate

• “An over-ideological (in my view) approach to individual decisions.

• “An absence of the accountable people in departments being involved or sufficiently involving themselves in decision making, ) cabinet government not serving its usual purpose.

• “The unreasonable pressure on the No 10 private office.

• “An absence of humanity.”

Department of Health wanted to lockdown at ‘latest possible moment’

11:09 , Matt Mathers

The Department of Health wanted to wait until the “latest possible moment” to tell people they had to stay at home, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

She said officials in the Cabinet Office had got "much further" than those in the health department.

She said officials "knew that the planning wasn’t there" to support a stay at home order and "there needed to be more time to get some of this planning actually done".

Helen MacNamara said Britain was ‘absolutely f*****’

11:00 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara told Dominic Cummings Britain was “absolutely f*****” in the early stages of the pandemic, the Covid inquiry has heard, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant confirmed Mr Cummings’s account that, after a meeting with a fellow official, Ms MacNamara realised there was “no plan” to deal with Covid.

She walked into the prime minister’s office and said: “I have come through here to the prime minister’s office to tell you all that I think we are absolutely f*****.

“I think this country is heading for a disaster. I think we are going to kill thousands of people.”

Boris Johnson did not understand ‘basic’ science on Covid, MacNamara

10:59 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson did not "understand the science" and would "get it wrong" during the pandemic, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

Scientists would have to "repeatedly explain what they regarded as being quite basic points" to him about the pandemic, she added.

Following the science was a ‘cop out’, former top civil servant

10:50 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara has said the government’s “following the science” mantra during Covid was a “cop out”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former deputy cabinet secretary said ministers were “just not making any decisions”, and would instead say “we’re just following the science”.

Ms MacNamara said the phrase was “useful as a comms line”, but “there is so much and so many different scientific questions involved”.

“I thought that was an odd thing to say religiously,” she told the Covid inquiry.

She added that it amounted to “abdicating responsibility to effectively an unelected group of people and putting everything on their shoulders, both because it wasn’t fair and right for them, but probably more importantly, it’s not fair and right in terms of who these choices belong to”.

Hancock said ‘time and time again’ Covid plans were in place - but officials ‘never got them'

10:44 , Matt Mathers

Matt Hancock told ministers and civil servants “time and time again” that plans to deal with Covid were in place as the pandemic struck, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

But the former top civil servant told the Covid inquiry that “we never got them” and she does not “understand a scenario where these plans did exist”.

‘There was a gap between how people live lives and the officials making decisions,’ MacNamara says

10:39 , Matt Mathers

The “gap between how people live their lives” and the “theoretical idea” of responding to people’s behaviour during the pandemic was a “big problem”, Helen MacNamara has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former top civil servant said there was a discussion about whether attending football games en masse was okay in the early days of Covid, with officials believing it was sage because fans are in large stadiums shouting into the ground.

But “when you are in the pub or on the train beforehand or on the concourse you are incredibly close to other people”, she said.

She added that nobody involved in that discussion had been to a football game in the way that “most people” do.

It looks like Dominic Cummings is tuned in

10:34 , Matt Mathers

A day after the Covid inquiry revealed Dominic Cummings called Helen MacNamara a "c***", it seems he is tuned in to hear her evidence, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former chief of staff in Downing Street said she was "right that the Cabinet Office failed to follow the orders given in 2020 to keep records of everything".

Mr Cummings said: "Helen right that CABOFF has failed to follow the orders given in 2020 to keep records of everything - I asked for this to happen - so did Helen - yet the Cabinet Office has destroyed a lot of documents - e.g some that I have accidental copies of do not show up in official records."

MacNamara: ‘Macho’ atmosphere at meetings as Johnson said UK would ‘sail through’ pandemic

10:31 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara said Boris Johnson was “confident” that Britain would “sail through” the pandemic in January and February 2020, urging officials to be “careful not to overcorrect”, Archie Mitchell reports.

“The atmosphere in the meetings I attended was confident and macho,” the former deputy cabinet secretary said.

Ms MacNamara said it was “striking” that there was a “de facto assumption that we’re going to be great” without any of the behind the scenes work.

“This in itself was not a new thing, but it seemed even more so than usual, that we were going to be world beating at conquering Covid-19 as well as everything else,” she said.

MacNamara: ‘Monomaniacal focus’ on election and Brexit put us on back foot

10:24 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara has said civil servants were made to feel as though “everything else could wait” for the Brexit question to be settled by 2019’s general election, Archie Mitchell reports.

“And then there was going to come a very large amount of change,” she said.

As a result, the civil service was on the “backfoot” at the beginning of 2020, in the months before the first Covid lockdown.

‘No business as usual under Johnson,’ MacNamara

10:19 , Matt Mathers

There was “no clear business as usual under Boris Johnson”, Helen MacNamara has told the official Covid inquiry, Archie Mitchell reports.

Her witness statement to the probe into the pandemic said: “Whitehall had developed some unhealthy habits in terms of ways of working and it was a low trust environment in terms of relationships between the civil service and the prime minister and his political team.”

MacNamara: ‘Extraordinarily difficult to access documents’

10:17 , Matt Mathers

Helen MacNamara has compiled a 100-page witness statement for the official Covid inquiry, which was made “extraordinarily difficult” by the government, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former deputy cabinet secretary said she was prevented from accessing “even the most basic pieces of information” from her ex-employer.

“It’s been hard enough for me to work out what was happening, and I was there,” she told the inquiry.

One of the issues was that her phone had been wiped once she gave it back.

She also said January 2020 felt like the beginning of a decade of Boris Johnson’s government, which in the end lasted around three years.

And we are off... live from the press annex at the Covid inquiry

10:05 , Matt Mathers

After yesterday’s hearing revealed a tirade by Dominic Cummings against Helen MacNamara in which he called Britain’s former top female civil servant a "c***", she will today have the chance to respond, Archie Mitchell reports.

Ms MacNamara will no doubt be questioned about her role in the Partygate scandal, after she brought a karaoke machine to a leaving bash for Downing Street aide Hannah Young during the pandemic.

Cummings is a ‘dysfunctional psychopath’, says former No 10 comms chief

09:55 , Matt Mathers

A former No 10 communications chief has described Dominic Cummings as a “dysfunctional psychopath” who actively sought to undermine Boris Johnson.

Guto Harri, who briefly served as Johnson’s director of communications during the dying days of his premiership, said he was shocked to see the extent to which his old boss had been criticised by some his top advisers.

Referring to WhatsApp messages between Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings shown to the Covid inquiry on Tuesday, Harri accused the pair of being engaged in an “ongoing, almost adolescent...WhatsApp rant” against the former PM.

More comments below:

Evidence to inquiry ‘clear evidence of scandalously bad government’ - former health sec

09:45 , Matt Mathers

Testimony given to the Covid inquiry this week is “clear evidence of scandalously bad government”, a former health secretary has said.

Stephen Dorrell, the Tory health secretary from 1995 to 1997, said the sessions showed there was a need to reestablish distance between politicians and civil servants.

“I can think of no circumstance in which it’s appropriate for senior civil servants to engage in political gossip on WhatsApp with whom people they are supposed to be accountable,” he said.

Watch a clip of Dorrell’s interview with Sky below:

Boris Johnson will give ‘full acount’ in his evidence, says deputy PM

09:30 , Matt Mathers

The Covid inquiry has already heard from a host of big-name politicos, including former prime minister David Cameron and his chancellor, George Osborne.

But perhaps the biggest draw is yet to come, with Boris Johnson himself set to testify before the end of the current module, which is set to conclude on 14 December.

Speaking to Sky News earlier, Oliver Dowden, the current deputy PM who served as Tory Party chairman under Johnson, said his old boss would give a “full account” when he is eventually called to give evidence.

“I am quite sure that when the former prime minister gives evidence he will give a full account of himself, the cabinet office has given a very full account of how we conducted ourselves,” he told the broadcaster.

“I am not going to give commentary on one individual piece of information because it needs to fit in with a much wider picture of how we conducted ourselves both at the time and through the vaccine programme, and through all the different, very difficult decisions that were taken around the cost and benefits of lockdowns.”

When asked about the testimony given by Cummings, Dowden cautioned against “taking one person’s evidence” as it needed to be taken “in the context of all the other evidence”.

Recap: What happened during Tuesday’s session

09:10 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson and his former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, dominate the headlines today following the latter’s marathon evidence session on Tuesday.

Cummings, described as the most empowered adviser No 10 has ever seen, took several swipes at his old boss and criticised Whitehall’s ability to deal with a crisis.

In an extraordinary day of evidence, it was revealed that Cummings himself had described the constant change of strategy as “exhausting” and branded his cabinet “useless f***pigs” in explosive WhatsApp messages.

Johnson, meanwhile, was accused of saying old people needed to accept their “fate”. Below is a full recap of Tuesday’s proceedings, which also saw Lee Cain, Johnson’s former communications chief, testify:

Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid crisis slammed by former top advisers

09:01 , Matt Mathers

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Covid inquiry.

Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, will give evidence from 10am.

Mac Namara is the civil servant who was heavily criticised in expletive-laden texts written by Cummings.

The former ethics chief also became the first person to confirm she had been fined over lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street.

David Halpern, president and former chief executive officer of the Behavioural Insights Team, will give evidence after Mac Namara at 2pm.

Stay tuned for live updates.

Watch - Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings provide worrying insight into No 10

07:00 , Lydia Patrick

Covid was ‘wrong crisis’ for Boris Johnson to handle, ex-Comms chief tells inquiry

06:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Covid was the “wrong crisis” for Boris Johnson to handle as he frustrated advisers by oscillating between decisions, the official inquiry has heard.

Mr Johnson dithered between supporting a lockdown and wanting to keep the country open in what was described as his Mayor of Jaws “routine”, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry was told on Tuesday.

Lee Cain, his long-term adviser who served as No 10’s communications director in the pandemic, said Mr Johnson’s erratic decision-making was “rather exhausting”.

Messages between Mr Cain and Dominic Cummings, who served as the then-prime minister’s chief adviser, showed them venting their frustrations on WhatsApp.

“Get in here he’s melting down,” Mr Cummings wrote on March 19 2020, days before the first lockdown, adding that Mr Johnson was “back to Jaws mode wank”.

Covid was ‘wrong crisis’ for Boris Johnson to handle, ex-Comms chief tells inquiry

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

06:00 , Lydia Patrick

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.

The ex-principal private secretary – dubbed “Party Marty” for his “bring your own booze” email during Partygate – said he was “deeply sorry” for his role in organising the infamous event and Mr Johnson’s birthday gathering at No 10.

Boris flip-flopping’ made it ‘impossible’ to tackle Covid, advisers’ messages reveal

Boris Johnson asked if blowing hairdryer up nose could kill Covid, says ex-aide Cummings

17:49 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson asked whether Covid could be killed by blowing a hairdryer up the nose, according to his former top aide Dominic Cummings.

The theory was quickly dismissed at the time by scientists as a crank idea with no foundation.

Jane Dalton reports:

Boris asked if blowing hairdryer up nose could kill Covid, says ex-aide Cummings

Top civil servant referenced in ‘misogynistic’ messages to give inquiry evidence

05:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The former top civil servant criticised by Dominic Cummings in expletive-laden WhatsApp messages is set to appear before the Covid-19 inquiry.

Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, will become the latest pandemic-era senior official to face questions about the response on Wednesday after two days of hearings revealed the dysfunction, indecision and dithering inside Boris Johnson’s government.

The ex-civil servant, who departed the civil service in 2021, was namechecked in proceedings on Tuesday as Mr Cummings denied he had behaved in a misogynistic way during his time in Downing Street.

WhatsApp messages shared with the inquiry revealed that Mr Cummings had labelled Ms MacNamara “that c***” and said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

“I don’t care how it’s done but that woman must be out of our hair – we cannot keep dealing with this horrific meltdown of the British state while dodging stilettos from that c***,” he wrote.

Top civil servant referenced in ‘misogynistic’ messages to give inquiry evidence

ICYMI - ‘Eat Out to Help Out made absolutely no sense whatsoever’

05:00 , Lydia Patrick

The Eat Out to Help Out scheme and the policy of sending people back to work during the pandemic “made absolutely no sense whatsoever”, Boris Johnson’s former director of communications told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Lee Cain said he was critical of the Eat Out to Help Out policy when it was implemented by the then chancellor Rishi Sunak in August 2020.

Mr Cain told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry: “I, and particularly the other communicators as well, were just finding it very, very difficult because a huge part of what our role and responsibility is at that point is ‘what are we signalling to the public?’

“At this point of developing policy, we are indicating to people that Covid is over – go back out, get back to work, crowd yourself on to trains, go into restaurants and enjoy pizzas with friends and family – really build up that social mixing.

“Now that is fine if you are intent on never having to do suppression measures again – but from all the evidence we are receiving, from all the advice we are receiving, it was incredibly clear that we were going to have to do suppression measures again.

“We knew that all the way through, that was the strategy from the start.”

ICYMI: So, ‘Party Marty’, why were No 10’s WhatsApp messages set to disappear?

17:45 , Matt Mathers

Former Boris Johnson aide Martin Reynolds struggled to answer questions at the Covid inquiry today. But with Dominic Cummings about to give evidence, it could be Johnson and Rishi Sunak who will soon be doing the squirming, writes Sean O’Grady.

Read Sean’s full piece here:

Why were No 10’s WhatsApp messages set to disappear?

What we have learned from the Covid inquiry so far this week

04:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

A busy two days at the Covid-19 inquiry saw appearances from some of the key figures in Downing Street during the early stages of the pandemic.

Here’s what we learned from the appearance of Dominic Cummings, Lee Cain and others over the course of Monday and Tuesday.

– Downing Street and governmental dysfunction

The inquiry heard multiple references to Mr Johnson as “the trolley” who tended to “wild oscillations”, while former No 10’s communications director Mr 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”.

Read the full piece here:

What we have learned from the Covid inquiry so far this week

Watch - Cummings shown own texts to Helen MacNamara after denying misogynistic behavior

04:00 , Lydia Patrick

Helen McNamara to appear at Covid inquiry

03:53 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Helen McNamara is to appear at the Covid inquiry today.

Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff, Dominic Cummings, called Ms MacNamara a ‘c***’ in one message during the pandemic.

Mr Cummings made clear his views about how the “dysfunctional system” during a “meltdown of the British state” failed to deal with the crisis.

“The perception among the political team in No10 about the failings in the system, the failings of the civil service and the failings of different institutions was so extreme,” Ms McNamara has told the BBC. Their instinct, she claimed, was to “smash everything up”.

“We were systematically in real trouble.”

ICYMI - Ex-No10 chief admits he ‘disappeared’ messages in PM’s WhatsApps group chat

03:00 , Lydia Patrick

One of Boris Johnson’s key aides turned messages to “disappear” in a key Covid WhatsApp group only weeks after the ex-PM promised a Covid public inquiry, it has been revealed.

Martin Reynolds was grilled about switching the function to delete messages in the then-PM’s group April 2021 – just after Mr Johnson announced an inquiry – as he gave evidence on Monday.

Mr Reynolds, Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary, told the inquiry he “cannot recall exactly why I did so” – before adding that he did not believe it was to “prevent” the inquiry having access to the messages.

The former No 10 official – dubbed “Party Marty” for his infamous ‘bring your own booze” drinks event email during Partygate – also said he was “deeply sorry” for his role in organising the garden party and Mr Johnson’s birthday gathering at No 10.

He said he was sorry for “my part in those events” and said he wanted to “apologise unreservedly to all the families of all those who suffered during Covid for all the distress caused”.

Ex-No10 chief admits he ‘disappeared’ messages in PM’s WhatsApps group chat

A timeline of Dominic Cumming’s role in Downing Street

02:00 , Lydia Patrick

Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to then-prime minister Boris Johnson, is giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Mr Cummings was one of Mr Johnson’s first appointments when he succeeded Theresa May as Conservative Party leader and PM in the summer 2019. His hiring was a signal to the hard-line Brexiteers who had ushered Mr Johnson to power that he was serious about delivering the withdrawal agreement from the European Union that his successor had failed to secure over months of tortuous negotiations.

A political strategist, Mr Cummings was an influential special adviser to Michael Gove between 2007 and 2014 before he became director of the Vote Leave campaign in 2015 and masterminded its victory in the Brexit referendum of 2016. He coined its “take back control” slogan and was seen as a divisive and outspoken figure who made enemies easily.

Portrayed as a visionary anti-establishment disrupter by Benedict Cumberbatch in the Channel 4 film Brexit: The Uncivil War, Mr Cummings was once described by David Cameron as a “career psychopath” and caused offence in Conservative circles by dishing out withering insults. He memorably labelled former Brexit secretary David Davis “thick as mince” and “lazy as a toad”, said the European Research Group were “useful idiots for Remain” and described the civil service as a “blob” of incompetence and bureaucracy.

Read the full report by Joe Sommerlad here

A timeline of Dominic Cummings’ career in Downing Street

Bombshell WhatsApp messages reveal Dominic Cummings’ secret foul-mouthed rants about Boris Johnson

01:00 , Lydia Patrick

Dominic Cummings branded Boris Johnson “exhausting” and in a foul-mouthed tirade said the cabinet was “useless f***pigs” in explosive WhatsApp messages revealed today at the Covid-19 inquiry.

In a pivotal day, Mr Johnson’s former communications chief Lee Cain gave evidence, followed by Mr Cummings, the former prime minister’s chief of staff during the pandemic.

Mr Cummings apologised to the inquiry for the “appalling” language he used in messages but said that he was reflecting “a widespread view” about the incompetence shown by ministers who were “dealing with this crisis extremely badly”.

The messages showed the disdain he held for his former boss Mr Johnson, as it was revealed Mr Cummings had to sit with him for “two hours just to stop him saying stupid s***”.

Mr Cummings coarse language was not limited to politicians as he denied being a misogynist after messages showed he called former top civil servant Helen MacNamara a “c***”.

Bombshell WhatsApp messages reveal Cummings’ secret foul-mouthed rants about Johnson

A rundown of day two of the inquiry

00:00 , Lydia Patrick

• Mr Johnson believed Covid was “a hoax” and “pathetic”, no worse than swine flu, and that it was nature’s way of dealing with the elderly

• No 10 staff had derided the dithering PM as “the trolley”, as he changed direction so often

• Mr Johnson took the “pretty insane” decision to go on holiday in February 2020, one month before lockdown

• There was “no plan” for how to protect vulnerable people from the virus

• Mr Johnson admitted there had been a “totally disgusting orgy of narcissism by a government that should be solving a national crisis”

• Mr Cummings said in a message that he wanted to “personally handcuff” the UK’s most powerful female mandarin, as he called her a “c***”

• In November 2020 Mr Cummings blocked Mr Johnson on WhatsApp after the then PM pleaded for briefings against his government to stop

Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid crisis slammed by former top advisers

Tuesday 31 October 2023 23:00 , Lydia Patrick

Boris Johnson’s one-time closest advisers lined up to slam his leadership during the Covid pandemic as he was blasted for his handling of the crisis.

In an extraordinary day of evidence at the Covid-19 inquiry, it was revealed that the former prime minister’s chief aide, Dominic Cummings, had described the constant change of strategy as “exhausting” and branded his cabinet “useless f***pigs” in explosive WhatsApp messages.

Mr Cummings said Mr Johnson did not think Covid was a “big deal”, while the hearing was also told that the then PM was “obsessed” with the idea that older people should be allowed to catch the virus and accept their “fate” in order to keep the economy open.

Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid crisis slammed by former top advisers

Dominic Cummings denies misogyny claims despite obscene sexist rant at UK’s most powerful female mandarin

Tuesday 31 October 2023 22:00 , Lydia Patrick

Dominic Cummings has insisted he is not a misogynist despite referring to a top civil servant as “that c***” in a series of foul-mouthed messages to Boris Johnson.

In an astonishing day of testimony at the Covid inquiry, shedding new light on a culture of sexism at the heart of the former prime minister’s government, Mr Cummings apologised for the “deplorable” language and even claimed he “was much ruder about men”.

To audible gasps, the inquiry was shown Mr Cummings’ WhatsApp texts about then deputy cabinet-secretary Helen MacNamara from 2020, in which he said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

Counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith KC put it to Mr Johnson’s former adviser yesterday that he “denigrated women”, to which he replied: “No, that’s not correct. I was not misogynistic.”

Dominic Cummings denies misogyny claims despite obscene sexist rant

Watch: Cummings and Cain provide worrying insight into No 10

Tuesday 31 October 2023 21:11 , Tara Cobham

Today’s sitting of the Covid-19 Inquiry saw expletive-filled text messages between Dominic Cummings and former prime minister Boris Johnson unveiled publicly.

In the messages, Cummings, who was then-adviser to Johnson, appeared to be growing frustrated with the Cabinet Office, referring to it as ‘s***’, and the delays to introducing further lockdown measures they were allegedly causing.

He also accused Johnson of saying ‘stupid s****’ and described former health secretary Matt Hancock as the ‘c*** in charge of NHS’.

The inquiry continues to look into the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Sophie Thompson reports:

Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings provide worrying insight into No 10

Watch: Rishi Sunak compared handling Covid to the film Jaws

Tuesday 31 October 2023 21:00 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid crisis slammed by former top advisers

Tuesday 31 October 2023 20:18 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson’s one-time closest advisers lined up to slam his leadership during the Covid pandemic as he was blasted for his handling of the crisis.

In an extraordinary day of evidence at the Covid-19 inquiry, the former prime minister’s chief aide Dominic Cummings described the constant change of strategy as “exhausting” and branded his cabinet “useless f***pigs” in explosive WhatsApp messages.

Mr Cummings said that Mr Johnson did not think Covid was a “big deal”, while the hearing was also told that then-PM was “obsessed” with the idea older people should be allowed to catch the virus and accept their “fate” to keep the economy open.

Kate Devlin and Archie Mitchell report:

Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid crisis slammed by former top advisers

Starmer battles to maintain Labour discipline over Israel-Hamas war

Tuesday 31 October 2023 20:08 , Tara Cobham

Sir Keir Starmer battled to maintain Labour discipline with members of his frontbench in open revolt about his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Labour leader has resisted pressure from within his own party to call for a ceasefire, instead urging both parties in the conflict to agree to a humanitarian pause to allow aid in and people out of the war zone.

Shadow ministers are among senior Labour figures demanding a change in his stance, with frontbencher Alex Cunningham calling for an “immediate ceasefire” less than an hour before Sir Keir delivered his speech.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also criticised Sir Keir, claiming he had made “hurtful” comments about the conflict and there was “repair work to do” to mend bridges with Muslim communities.

Sir Keir insisted he took collective responsibility - the principle that members of his frontbench team adopt a unified position - seriously, but he gave no indication he was about to sack those who had spoken out.

“It is for me to address collective responsibility, I recognise that,” he said.

“It matters and I take that duty extremely seriously, but I put it in the context of understanding what is driving people in the call for a ceasefire, which is in my judgment not the call that we should be making as things stand.”

What we have learned from the Covid inquiry so far this week

Tuesday 31 October 2023 19:51 , Tara Cobham

A busy two days at the Covid-19 inquiry saw appearances from some of the key figures in Downing Street during the early stages of the pandemic.

Here’s what we learned from the appearance of Dominic Cummings, Lee Cain and others over the course of Monday and Tuesday.

What we have learned from the Covid inquiry so far this week

Dithering Johnson suggested Covid was nature dealing with elderly, inquiry hears

Tuesday 31 October 2023 19:40 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson's chaotic indecisiveness delayed lockdown measures, two of his top advisers have said, as it was alleged he believed coronavirus was "nature's way of dealing with old people".

Dominic Cummings told the Covid inquiry on Tuesday how the "dysfunctional system" during a "meltdown of the British state" failed to deal with the crisis, as the former prime minister downplayed the pandemic.

Lee Cain, who served as No 10's communications director, criticised Mr Johnson's tendency to "oscillate" between decisions for holding up the Government's response.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry saw diary entries from Sir Patrick Vallance saying Mr Johnson was "obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life" and getting the economy running.

Cummings denies misogyny despite foul-mouthed messages about civil servant

Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:57 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings has insisted he is not a misogynist despite referring to a top civil servant as “that c***” in a series of foul-mouthed messages to Boris Johnson.

In an astonishing day of Covid testimony shedding new light on a culture of sexism at the heart of the former PM’s government, Cummings apologised for the “deplorable” language and claimed he “was much ruder about men”.

To audible gasps, the inquiry was shown Cummings’ WhatsApp texts about then deputy cabinet-secretary Helen MacNamara from 2020, in which he said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

Read more here:

Dominic Cummings denies misogyny claims despite

In pictures: Cummings and Cain after appearing at inquiry

Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:55 , Tara Cobham

Cummings’ bombshell four-letter Covid WhatsApp rants explained

Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:50 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings branded Boris Johnson “exhausting” and in a foul-mouthed tirade said the cabinet was “useless f***pigs” in explosive WhatsApp messages revealed today at the Covid-19 inquiry.

In a pivotal day, Mr Johnson’s former communications chief Lee Cain gave evidence, followed by Mr Cummings, the former prime minister’s chief of staff during the pandemic.

Mr Cummings apologised to the inquiry for the “appalling” language he used in messages but said that he was reflecting “a widespread view” about the incompetence shown by ministers who were “dealing with this crisis extremely badly”.

Joe Middleton reports:

Bombshell WhatsApp messages reveal Cummings’ secret foul-mouthed rants about Johnson

Sturgeon says she ‘gave my all’ in response to pandemic

Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:06 , Tara Cobham

Nicola Sturgeon has said she “gave my all” in the response to the pandemic.

Addressing journalists at Holyrood on whether she deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the pandemic, the former first minister said: “I gave my all to the management of the pandemic.

“Transparency for the families affected, by everybody affected by the pandemic, matters really a lot to me.

“I did my best everyday, as you heard me say many times over the course of the pandemic, I did not get everything right but I did my best and I want the process of these inquiries to get to the heart of what happened – the things that Governments got right and the things that Government’s and leaders alike didn’t get right.”

‘I did not manage Covid response by WhatsApp,’ says Sturgeon

Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:05 , Tara Cobham

Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I did not manage the Covid response by WhatsApp.”

Speaking to reporters at Holyrood, she said she was not a member of any WhatsApp groups and she took decisions on the response at the Scottish Government headquarters at St Andrews House in Edinburgh.

She said she has “nothing to hide” and is “committed to full transparency” for both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 inquiries.

Sturgeon says she dealt with messages ‘in line with policies' of Scottish Government

Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:05 , Tara Cobham

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she dealt with messages “in line with policies” of the Scottish Government.

Speaking to journalists in Holyrood, Ms Sturgeon said: “Any messages I had I handled and dealt with in line with the policies set out by the Deputy First Minister.”

Her comments come after the Scottish Government published its policy on social media messages, which says “business conversations” through informal messaging channels should be deleted “at least monthly”.

Barnard Castle trip ‘did cause lot of people pain’, says Cummings

Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:26 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings said that the handling by Downing Street of the fallout from his trip to Barnard Castle was an “absolute car crash” and “did cause a lot of people pain”.

He was quizzed on the high-profile controversy and the impact it had on confidence in the Government during his appearance at the Covid inquiry.

He said: “It was certainly a disaster, the whole handling of the situation. But there were other factors involved with it all as well – testing and PPE and many other things were all going haywire at the time.”

He said it was “completely reasonable” for security reasons to move his family out of his house, but on the Barnard Castle revelations he said the way it was “handled it was an absolute car crash and disaster and did cause a lot of people pain”.

But he added: “In terms of my actual actions in going north and then coming back down I acted entirely reasonably and legally and did not break any rules.”

Cummings ‘rolled dice’ and backed Johnson as PM despite believing him ‘unfit'

Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:15 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings said he decided to “roll the dice” and back Boris Johnson to be prime minister even though he believed he was “unfit” for power.

Asked if he was sorry, Mr Cummings said “no”, adding: “Politics is about choices.

“And the choice that we had in summer 2019 was do we allow the whole situation, this once-a-century constitutional crisis to continue, meltdown and possibly see Jeremy Corbyn as PM and a second referendum on Brexit – which we thought would be catastrophic for the country and for democracy, for faith in democracy – or to roll the dice on Boris and to try and control him and build a team around him that could control him.

“We didn’t take that choice lightly. We considered in summer 19 an alternative of staying out of it.

“But we thought the combination of second referendum and Corbyn was so bad that we should roll the dice.”

Johnson raged Cummings was ‘total and utter liar’ after Barnard Castle trip

Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:14 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson raged that Dominic Cummings was a “total and utter liar” after his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle became public.

In messages shared with the Covid inquiry, dated July 19 2021, Mr Johnson said: “Cummings a total and utter liar. He never told me he had gone to Durham during lockdown.

“I only discovered when the stories started to come out about Barnard castle etc. I believed Mary Wakefield when she wrote a piece in spec giving impression they had been in London the whole time.

“He later claimed that he had told me but that my brain was so fogged by Covid that I didn’t register.

“It’s not true, I would have noted it.

“He never told me. I then tried my very best to defend him.”

Boris said it was ‘cr**’ that wife Carrie was leading lockdown policy

Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:09 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson called suggestions his wife Carrie was leading lockdown policy “cr**”, the Covid inquiry has heard.

In a final WhatsApp to Mr Cummings on November 15, 2020, Mr Johnson hit out at suggestions that his now wife Carrie was responsible for briefing against his former senior aide, who had left No 10 two days earlier.

The message from Mr Johnson said: “She hasn’t briefed anyone and my instructions to all were to shut the f*** up. How is any of us supposed to know where these briefings come from? Look at the claims made on behalf of allies of Lee (Cain) and Dom, that I’m out in six months, that I can’t take decisions, that Carrie is secretly forging lockdown policy, and about a billion equally demented claims.

“Are you responsible for all that crap? No. Then look at it from my point of view. This is a totally disgusting orgy of narcissism by a government that should be solving a national crisis.

“We must end this. That’s why I wanted to talk and see what we can jointly do to sterilise the whole thing. But if you really refuse, then that’s up to you.”

Asked if he agreed there was an “orgy of narcissism” in the government, Mr Cummings told the Covid inquiry: “Certainly there was.”

Cummings on Johnson’s relationship with media: ‘Extremely damaging’

Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:07 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings was asked by Hugo Keith about the relationship between Boris Johnson and the media.

Mr Cummings said: “There was a general feeling in Number 10 that the way in which the Prime Minister responded constantly to the media was extremely bad and extremely damaging to the Covid response.

“There were specific concerns about his relationship with the Barclays in the Telegraph.

“And there were specific concerns and also suspicions of possible corruption in terms of his relationship with Osborne, and funnelling money to the Evening Standard.”

He also said that Boris Johnson had spoken to and met with Lord Lebedev in March 2020.

Counsel puts to Cummings that he ‘denigrated women'

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:55 , Tara Cobham

Counsel to the Inquiry Hugo Keith KC put to Dominic Cummings that he “denigrated women” and “denigrated Helen McNamara” by sending her a misogynistic message.

Mr Cummings responded: “No that’s not correct. I was not misogynistic.

“I was much ruder about men than I was about Helen.

“I agree that my language is deplorable, but as you can see for yourself I deployed the same or worse language (for) the prime minister, secretary of state or other people.

“If you want to look at how we actually ran things, unlike Whitehall, I had two young women as my deputies, I hired young women into the data science team, in the Vote Leave campaign I actually put a woman in her 30s in charge of it much to the rage of a lot of MPs.

“So if you look at the reality of how I actually ran teams, and how they got on with the private secretaries in Number 10, you will see the truth of the matter.”

Cummings apologises for foul-mouthed message about MacNamara

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:53 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings apologised for his foul-mouthed WhatsApp message about former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara.

He said: “I apologise for my language towards Helen but a thousand times worse than my language was the underlying insanity of the situation in Number 10.”

Mr Cummings criticised Boris Johnson’s “botched” attempt to change senior civil servants in No 10 and the Cabinet Office.

He said: “The prime minister had – first of all – tried to sack the cabinet secretary and then botched it, and he was still there. Then he had said to everyone that he wanted Helen to be removed as well and that he had lost confidence in Helen.”

That meant “we were in this absolutely nightmare situation where the PM had made clear that he didn’t have confidence in either of the two senior officials, had said to people that he was going to remove them, then he didn’t remove them for week after week”.

Mr Cummings said: “Now, my language about Helen – the language is absolutely appalling and actually I got on well with Helen at a personal level – but a thousand times worse than my bad language is the underlying issue at stake that we had a Cabinet Office system that had completely melted and the prime minister had half begun the process of changing the senior management and then stopped.”

Yousaf’s informal messages will be handed to inquiry, says Robison

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:51 , Tara Cobham

Informal messages sent and received by First Minister Humza Yousaf during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he served as justice secretary and health secretary, will be handed over to the UK inquiry unredacted, Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has said.

“As the First Minister recently stated, should either Covid inquiry want more information, then we expect every Minister, past and present, every government official and clinical adviser to comply,” she said.

“I can confirm that the First Minister will, when submitting his final statement for Module 2A in the coming days, hand over WhatsApp messages, unredacted to the inquiry.”

Cummings calls top civil servant ‘f***** up frosty’ in messages shown at inquiry

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:49 , Tara Cobham

In another message, shown at the inquiry, Dominic Cummings said of former top civil servant Helen MacNamara: “We gotta get Helen out of CabOff. She’s f***** up frosty. She’s f***** up me and case. She’s trying to get spads fired and cause trouble on multiple fronts.

“Can we get her in on Monday for chat re her moving to CLG or dft. I get the distinct impression MS isn’t acting swiftly and she is trying to hang on waiting to get hooks into new CabSec and stay in there… we need her out ASAP. Building millions of lovely houses.”

Watch: Covid compared to chickenpox

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:47 , Tara Cobham

Cummings calls MacNamara a ‘c***’ in series of disparaging messages

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:46 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings has been shown a series of messages in which he called former top civil servant Helen MacNamara a “c***” and said he would “handcuff her and escort her” from Downing Street.

The Covid-19 inquiry was shown the disparaging messages Mr Cummings sent to Boris Johnson’s former comms chief Lee Cain about the then deputy cabinet secretary in 2020, in which he said he didn’t care “how it’s done” but “that woman must be out of our hair”.

To audible gasps in the press annex of the Covid inquiry, lead counsel Hugo Keith KC read out a message in which Mr Cummings said: “If I have to come back to Helen’s bullshit with PET - designed to waste huge amounts of my time so I can’t spend it on other stuff - I will personally handcuff her and escort her from the building.

“I don’t care how it’s done but that woman must be out of our hair - we cannot keep dealing with this horrific meltdown of the British state while dodging stilettos from that c***.”

Cummings denied he was misogynistic.

The inquiry also heard that Ms MacNamara and a fellow civil servant had drawn up a report complaining of “toxic cultural problems in No 10, people talking over junior women, a sexist macho culture”.

The inquiry also heard that Cummings had described the Cab Office, where ms MacNamara worked, as “terrifyingly shit”.

Scottish Deputy First Minister ‘can’t give details on what’s been provided to inquiry'

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:37 , Tara Cobham

Scottish Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has said she is not able to provide details on what has or has not been provided to the Covid inquiries.

Making a statement in Holyrood, Ms Robison said it was for the inquiries to decide what should be published, in the wake of a row over the potential deletion of WhatsApp messages – including reports that Nicola Sturgeon messages may not have been retained.

“It is important to note that both inquiries have made all their requests to witnesses in confidence, and those requests are not public,” she said.

“All those receiving requests, including Scottish Government, have been told by the inquiries not to share their content. It is entirely up to – and wholly a matter for – the independent inquiry chairs to determine, where appropriate, whether to publish the material they receive.

“The Scottish Government is obliged to comply with this requirement and as such I will not, and cannot, provide precise details on any of the requests that the Scottish Government has received to date, including specific information on what has been asked of individuals who have received requests from the inquiries.

“Nor can I discuss in detail what material individuals have or have not provided.”

Johnson argued lockdown would be ‘killing patient to tackle tumour’, says Cummings

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:35 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson argued that lockdown would be “killing the patient to tackle the tumour” on March 19 2020, Dominic Cummings said as he accused him of dithering over the decision.

Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser was asked about a diary note by an aide, attributed to the then-prime minister, stating: “We’re killing the patient to tackle the tumour. Large ppl (taken to mean large numbers of people) who will die, why are we destroying economy for people who will die anyway soon.”

Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, asked Mr Cummings who made that comment.

“I think it was the PM,” Mr Cummings replied, saying it was a reflection of the debate going on in Downing Street and that the Treasury being “baffled” that “why are we not sticking to” the plan.

Asked whether there was a real problem in getting Mr Johnson to agree to a course of action and to stick to it, Mr Cummings agreed that that “is the nub of it”.

He said: “By the 19th it was totally obvious that there was going to be a lockdown. And my fear then was that if the PM suddenly trolleyed back, then all it would do was cause more needless confusion.”

Boris getting rid of Sedwill was ‘one of most disastrous moments of entire 2020’

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:33 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson getting rid of Britain’s top civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill was “one of the most disastrous moments of 2020”, Dominic Cummings has claimed.

Mr Cummings said: “It was a total disaster. But it was also, from a personal level, it was very unfair on Mark.”

He acknowledged that he “played his part” in the PM’s loss of confidence in Sir Mark.

Cummings told Johnson that Hancock had ‘killed people’, inquiry hears

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:32 , Tara Cobham

In a message sent to Boris Johnson by Dominic Cummings in May 2020, the top adviser told the Prime Minister that Health Secretary Matt Hancock had “killed people”.

In a WhatsApp message shared with the inquiry, he said: “You need to think through timing of binning Hancock. There’s no way the guy can stay. He’s lied his way through this and killed people and dozens and dozens of people have seen it.

“He will have to go the question is when and who replaces.”

Johnson said why destroy economy for people who will die anyway, Cummings confirms

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:26 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Dominic Cummings confirmed it was Boris Johnson who said in a meeting during the pandemic: "Why are we destroying the economy for people who will die anyway soon?"

On Monday, the inquiry heard that Mr Johnson had, according to a note read from the diary of a former private secretary, asked why the economy was being destroyed “for people who will die anyway soon”, in the days before the country went into lockdown.

The diary note from Imran Shafi, which he attributed to Mr Johnson, stated: “We’re killing the patient to tackle the tumour. Large ppl (taken to mean large numbers of people) who will die, why are we destroying economy for people who will die anyway soon.”

Asked on Tuesday who made the comment, Mr Cummings said: "I think it was the PM."

Cummings warned Johnson of NHS imploding ‘like zombie apocalypse film’, inquiry hears

Tuesday 31 October 2023 16:25 , Tara Cobham

Dominic Cummings warned Boris Johnson of the NHS imploding “like a zombie apocalypse film”, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard.

Calling for daily meetings on the crisis in the Cabinet room, Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser said in a WhatsApp to the then-prime minister on March 12 2020: “The overwhelming danger here is being late and the NHS implodes like zombie apocalypse film – not being a week early.”

Asked about the message, Mr Cummings told the inquiry new NHS data he had seen revealed “that the whole crisis was coming much, much, much faster than we had been told”.

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website