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There was a "bit of a row" when former no 10 senior adviser Dominic Cummings said he wanted to attend Sage meetings during the Covid-19 crisis, the UK Covid-19 public inquiry has heard.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said: "When it was known that Mr Cummings himself sometimes came to Sage, this caused quite a row actually, I wasn’t the person who made the decision to make that possible."
Whitty has taken the stand at the official Covid inquiry today in a highly anticipated evidence session.
He was at the heart of decision-making during the pandemic, working closely with then prime minister Boris Johnson and others at the top of government.
During yesterday’s session, it emerged that Sir Patrick Vallance, the former government science adviser, privately referred to Whitty as a lockdown “delayer” as “palpable tension” emerged between the two over policy.
Sir Patrick made an entry in his own diary in February 2021 in which Sir Chris had spoken to him about the inquiry they knew was coming, and whether the lockdown in March 2020 had been imposed too late.
“He was a delayer of course,” Sir Patrick wrote.
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Cummings's appearances at Sage sparked ‘bit of a row’
There was a "bit of a row" when former no 10 senior adviser Dominic Cummings said he wanted to attend Sage meetings during the Covid-19 crisis, the UK Covid-19 public inquiry has heard, Archie Mitchell reports.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said: "When it was known that Mr Cummings himself sometimes came to Sage, this caused quite a row actually, I wasn’t the person who made the decision to make that possible."
He suggested Mr Cummings did not try to influence discussions or conclusions of the meetings, adding: "I thought it was perfectly sensible that if one of the most senior advisers to the Prime Minister, if she or he wished to, could listen in on Sage, struck me as a sensible thing to do … they could ask questions potentially, but try to bias the answer that was given and that would be extremely unacceptable, but that wasn’t the situation, in my view, that happened."
Sir Chris said the "central view" of Sage meetings were presented in the minutes of the meetings but that he and Sir Patrick Vallance presented the outlier opinions verbally to ministers.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 13:161700572477
Sir Chris Whitty defends decision on timing of first Sage meeting
Sir Chris Whitty was pressed by Covid inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC on whether he should have called a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) earlier in the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports
The chief medical officer robustly defended the timing of his decision, telling the inquiry: “There are various points along the path… where I would, in retrospect, have made different decisions. This is not one of them.”
Mr Keith asked whether it was not necessary to have acted earlier than January 16, 2020.
“Not in my judgement. That was my judgement. And I’m going to repeat it that is still my judgement,” Sir Chris told the inquiry.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 13:141700571831
‘Following the science mantra was millstone around my neck,’ Whitty says
Professor Sir Chris Whitty has described the pandemic mantra of "following the science" as being a "millstone" around his neck, Archie Mitchell reports.
The chief medical officer for England told the Covid-19 Inquiry: "Both (Sir) Patrick (Vallance) and I, when it initially happened – remembering that our job was to get science into Government – thought ‘oh this is a good thing, Government is recognising that science is important’.
"Very soon we realised it was a millstone around our necks and didn’t help Government either.
"Because it blurred the distinction between the very firm, clear demarcation that must and did exist between technical advice and political decision for which people are then answerable in the ballot box and in Parliament."
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 13:031700571108
Decision-makers cherry-picked scientific advice, but by accident, Whitty claims
Sir Chris Whitty said scientific advice was cherry-picked at times, but insisted that it was not by key decision-makers in government such as Matt Hancock and Rishi Sunak, Archie Mitchell reports.
The chief medical officer also insisted it was done by accident.
But Sir Chris’s claim contradicts former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who told the inquiry officials "cherry-picked" advice and ministers used scientists as “human shields".
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 12:511700570704
Whitty: Covid would have been chaotic no matter who was in charge
The pandemic would have been chaotic regardless of who was prime minister, Sir Chris Whitty has said, Archie Mitchell reports.
The chief medical officer said it was “quite often chaotic”, but he was “very doubtful” it was not chaotic in multiple other governments.
“If the opposition had won the election, it would have been Jeremy Corbyn. If Mr. Johnson had been unable to continue, it would have been Ms Liz Truss,” he said.
Sir Chris added: “They would have had different sets of challenges and advantages as leaders. It’s the job of the technical people to work with whoever is there.”
Sir Chris also said he would not make “commentaries on individual politicians”, but described Boris Johnson’s decision-making process as “unique to him”.
A flabbergasted inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC interrupted to say: “That’s a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one.”
The chief medical officer went on to say the former PM has “quite a distinct style” but that is was not his role to comment on individual politicians.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 12:451700570334
‘All the options were very bad, some were a bit worse’
It took “a while” for ministers to realise that Covid was “not going to be in any way easy” and grasp that it would “go on for a long time”, Sir Chris Whitty has told the Covid inquiry, Archie Mitchell reports.
Asked whether there were ever good or easy decisions during the pandemic, the chief medical officer said: “There were two things I said right from the beginning… There were no good options. All the options were very bad, some are a bit worse, and some are very, very bad.
“And the second is this was going to go on for a long time.”
He said it “took a while for some people to internalise that this was not going to be in any way easy, it was going to be long and it was going to involve significant loss of life”.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 12:381700569857
‘Decisions taken in pandemic were political,’ chief medical officer
Decisions taken by the government during the pandemic were “clearly” political, Sir Chris Whitty has said, contradicting repeated claims by ministers that they were “following the science”, Archie Mitchell reports.
The chief medical officer told the Covid inquiry that there were examples of the government “changing facts to fit the political agenda” and “ignoring or twisting facts”.
“We can give advice of a technical nature as to what would happen in this situation or that one, but ultimately, these are political decisions,” Sir Chris said.
He said there is healthy debate about the balance of public health against personal freedoms, but “where it was not legitimate” was when facts were changed to suit political agendas.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 12:301700569502
Scientists are ‘worried about potential lawsuits’
Sir Chris Whitty said he has “always been worried” about the potential for “frivolous or actual” lawsuits based on his role in responding to the Covid pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.
The chief medical officer said as an employee of the government he is “much less concerned”.
But he told the Covid inquiry it is “ambiguous at best” the extent to which scientists are “automatically covered by some form of indemnity” against legal claims.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 12:251700568918
Sunak continues to work ‘extremely closely’ with Whitty
Rishi Sunak “continues to work extremely closely” with chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty, Downing Street said when asked about his evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Asked whether the prime minister still has confidence in Whitty, his official spokesman told reporters on Tuesday: “The government set up this inquiry to listen to all facts and hear all the evidence from all sides and then come to a judgement.
“That’s what we will do and you will hear from the prime minister at the time of inquiry’s choosing.
“And I’m sure that public understands the importance of hearing all the evidence and all the facts – and indeed the inquiry’s conclusion – before making their mind up.
“I’m not going to get drawn into different bits of evidence in a piecemeal fashion.
“The prime minister continues to work extremely closely with the chief medical officer, not least on the new laws around smoking, which is a massive public health intervention.”
Rishi Sunak said last year that scientists were too ’empowered’ during the pandemic (Jane Barlow/PA)
(PA Archive)
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 12:151700567977
Scientists should have ‘cottoned on to’ possibility of lockdown earlier, Whitty says
Scientists should have “cottoned on to” lockdown being a possibility in the early days of the pandemic, England’s chief medical officer has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Professor Sir Chris Whitty’s witness statement to the probe said “the absence of contemplation” of lockdown being a reality “might be considered a failure of imagination by a group of scientists who understood the nature of epidemics and their history”.
Asked by inquiry counsel Hugo Keith what the reference meant, he said that within Sage he was “one of the people who was most concerned” that the “reality” of past pandemics was captured.
Sir Chris was also concerned there would be a winter surge, irrespective of where the first wave of the virus happened.
“That wasn’t derived from modelling, that was derived from, in a sense, historical experience,” he added.
Matt Mathers21 November 2023 11:59NewerOlder✕
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