Questions are piling up for Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak at the COVID inquiry – and it’s likely to get worse
This week at the COVID inquiry is about the advisers – the backroom officials now thrust into the spotlight.
They reveal new details of the chaotic decision-making in Number 10 – and more widely across government – and extremely candid assessments of the key players, but particularly Boris Johnson.
Today, Martin Reynolds, a close Johnson ally from his time at the foreign office who went to work as his principal private secretary, conceded that the former prime minister “blew hot and cold” on lockdown.
He insisted this was because of the momentous nature of the decisions. Messages from Simon Case, the most senior civil servant in government, are less charitable.
Politics latest: Government WhatsApp messages revealed during COVID inquiry
In one newly-released WhatsApp from late 2020, he says of Mr Johnson: “I’m at the end of my tether. He changes strategic direction every day.
“Monday, we were all about fear of virus returning as per Europe… today we were in ‘let it rip’ mode cos the UK is pathetic. He cannot lead and we cannot support him leading with this approach.”
In another message, he called the government a “terrible, tragic joke”.
Lee Cain, Johnson’s former director of communications, signalled his agreement with an emoji of a trolley – their nickname for the prime minister given his tendency, in their view, to veer from one side to another.
Lee Cain used a trolley emoji in reference to his nickname for Mr Johnson
Sir Patrick Vallance, the former chief scientific adviser, described the prime minister in his diaries as “weak and indecisive” and constantly “flip-flopping”.
Later we heard from Imran Shafi, who worked in Number 10 advising the prime minister on public services.
He revealed a hand-scrawled note from a discussion between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak in March 2020 which read: “We’re killing the patient to tackle the tumour… Why are we destroying economy for people who will die soon anyway?”
Asked who expressed these views, he said he thought it was Mr Johnson.
It would tally with claims that he talked to aides of letting the “bodies pile high” rather than allowing a second lockdown.
Dominic Cummings, once Mr Johnson’s closest ally but now his sworn enemy, told MPs he’d heard the former prime minister say it.
Mr Johnson and other senior politicians will be called by the inquiry by the end of this year.
Dominic Cummings with his former ally Boris Johnson
Despite a court ruling that he must hand over WhatsApp messages from his old phone, used before April 2021, this process is not yet complete.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “Boris Johnson is cooperating fully with the inquiry”.
Tomorrow, Mr Cummings, who has already spoken extensively on this, will be in front of the inquiry – no doubt to inflict further damage on his old nemesis.
And questions are also building up for Mr Sunak, who declared himself, while running for the Conservative leadership last year, to be sceptical of the lockdown.
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On Wednesday, Helen McNamara, the cabinet office official who called Sunak “Dr Death”, will give evidence.
And today, it was revealed that the cut-price meal scheme he championed as chancellor was dubbed “Eat Out to Help the Virus” by chief medical officer Chris Whitty.
For the current and former prime ministers, there could be plenty more unwelcome surprises.
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Scotland’s former first minister Humza Yousaf hits out at Starmer’s ‘dog whistle’ stance on immigration
Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf has attacked Sir Keir Starmer for his “dog whistle” stance on immigration after the prime minister said the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers”.
In a piece penned by Mr Yousaf for LBC, the former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) repeated claims the prime minister’s recent remarks on immigration were a “modern echo” of Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 Rivers Of Blood speech.
The prime minister stirred controversy earlier this week when he argued Britain “risked becoming an island of strangers” if immigration levels were not cut.
After many MPs criticised his language, Sir Keir rejected the comparison to Powell, with his official spokesperson saying migrants have made a “massive contribution” to society but his point was that the Tories “lost control of the system”.
File pic: PA
In the LBC piece published on Saturday, Mr Yousaf said: “Powell’s 1968 speech warned of immigration as an existential threat to ‘our blood and our culture’, stoking racial panic that led directly to decades of hostile migration policies.
“Starmer’s invocation of ‘strangers’ is a modern echo – a dog-whistle to voters who blame migrants for every social ill, from stretched public services to the cost-of-living crisis.
“It betrays a failure to understand, or deliberately mask the fact that Britain’s prosperity depends on migration, on openness not building walls.”
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Starmer’s speech divides opinion
Read more:
Labour’s immigration approach builds on Tory rollbacks
Farage on how Reform UK would deal with migration
Sir Keir made the comments at a news conference in which measures were announced to curb net migration, including banning care homes from recruiting overseas, new English language requirements for visa holders and stricter rules on gaining British citizenship.
The package is aimed at reducing the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, though the government has not officially set a target.
The government is under pressure to tackle legal migration, as well as illegal immigration, amid Reform UK’s surge in the polls.
Mr Yousaf concluded his article saying the UK was “on the brink of possibly handing the keys of No 10 to Nigel Farage”.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has held discussions with Everstake, one of the largest non-custodial staking providers globally, to explore clearer regulatory definitions around staking in blockchain networks.
The meeting, which also involved the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, comes at a time when over $193 billion in digital assets are staked across major proof-of-stake (PoS) networks.
However, despite the massive scale of participation, staking remains in a legal gray zone in the US as regulators wrestle with its classification under existing securities law.
The previous SEC administration also took enforcement actions against major players such as Kraken, Coinbase, and Consensys due to their staking services. The agency, under pro-crypto President Donald Trump, has recently dismissed these enforcement actions.
During the meeting, Everstake told the SEC that non-custodial staking should not be classified as a securities transaction. The company said that users maintain full control over their digital assets throughout the staking process and do not transfer ownership to a third party.
They argued that this makes staking a technical function, not an investment product.
“Our main assertion is that staking is not a financial instrument or security transaction, but rather a technical process, a base-layer protocol mechanism—akin to an oracle in a database—that maintains the integrity and functionality of decentralized networks,” Everstake founder Sergii Vasylchuk told Cointelegraph.
Related: SEC delays staking decision for Grayscale ETH ETFs
Everstake calls for regulatory clarity
In a letter submitted to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force on April 8, 2025, Everstake asked the agency to extend regulatory clarity to non-custodial staking and custodial and liquid staking models.
In the letter, which came in respond to Commissioner Hester Peirce’s call for input on regulatory treatment of blockchain services, Everstake argued that non-custodial staking should not be considered a securities offering.
It claimed that non-custodial staking, where users retain control of their tokens, does not involve the pooling of assets or the expectation of profits from managerial efforts.
In its model, Everstake said users delegate only validation rights while maintaining ownership of their digital assets. The staking rewards are algorithmically distributed by the blockchain network itself, and the firm merely provides technical infrastructure.
Related: Ethereum ETF staking will have little impact without multimonth rally: Analyst
Non-custodial staking fails the Howey test
The letter also details why non-custodial staking fails each prong of the Howey test. Users do not make an investment of money in a common enterprise, do not expect profits from Everstake’s efforts, and are not dependent on the company’s management for financial returns.
Instead, any rewards come from network-level incentives and fluctuate with the market value of the underlying asset.
Everstake proposes specific criteria that should exempt non-custodial staking from securities classification. These include user asset control, absence of pooled funds, permissionless unstaking, and the provision of purely technical services.
It likens non-custodial staking to proof-of-work mining, which the SEC has previously ruled out as a securities transaction.
Margaret Rosenfeld, Everstake’s chief legal officer, also told Cointelegraph that “with non-custodial staking, there’s no handover of assets, no investment contract, and no third-party risk.” She added:
“Treating it as a securities offering undermines the decentralized model and risks chilling innovation in the blockchain sector.”
Nevertheless, the SEC has so far withheld a definitive stance. Rosenfeld said that the agency did not make any “specific commitments” on staking guidance. However, it continues to listen to industry stakeholders.
“The Task Force is actively engaging with a range of stakeholders—including those involved with non-custodial staking, ETFs, and broader blockchain infrastructure—to gather input.”
In an April 30 letter to the SEC, nearly 30 crypto advocate groups led by the lobby group the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) asked the agency for clear regulatory guidance on crypto staking and staking services.
Magazine: Binance Wallet ‘killing’ MetaMask and airdrops, Chinese RWA tokens: Asia Express
A man from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, has been arrested in connection with an FBI-led investigation into a global cryptocurrency fraud operation that allegedly stole $450 million New Zealand dollars ($265 million).
According to New Zealand Police, the man is one of 13 individuals charged after authorities executed search warrants across Auckland, Wellington, and California over the past three days.
The charges stem from allegations that members of an organized criminal group manipulated seven victims to obtain large amounts of cryptocurrency, which was then laundered through multiple platforms between March and August 2024.
The US Department of Justice has indicted the man under federal law, including charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, per the announcement.
Related: Germany seizes $38M in crypto from Bybit hack-linked eXch exchange
Scammer used stolen funds to purchase luxury vehicles
Prosecutors allege the stolen funds were used to purchase $9 million worth of luxury vehicles and spent lavishly on high-end goods, including designer handbags, watches, and clothing, as well as services such as nightclub access, private security, and rentals in Los Angeles, Miami, and the Hamptons.
The accused appeared in Auckland District Court and was granted bail with interim name suppression. He is scheduled to reappear on July 3.
“We have worked closely with our law enforcement colleagues in the United States in support of their investigation,” the police stated. They added:
“Today’s search warrant and arrest reflects the importance of international partnerships where criminals are operating across borders.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
Related: Bybit hacker launders 100% of stolen $1.4B crypto in 10 days
Crypto thefts surge to $360 million in April
Digital asset thefts skyrocketed in April 2025, with nearly $360 million stolen across 18 separate hacking incidents, according to data from blockchain security firm PeckShield.
The figure marks a staggering 990% jump from March when reported losses stood at just $33 million. The sharp rise was largely attributed to a single unauthorized Bitcoin transfer that accounted for the bulk of the month’s losses.
On April 28, blockchain analyst ZachXBT identified a suspicious $330 million BTC transaction. The incident was later confirmed as a social engineering attack that targeted an elderly US resident, resulting in one of the largest individual crypto thefts to date.
Magazine: Binance Wallet ‘killing’ MetaMask and airdrops, Chinese RWA tokens: Asia Express
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