Professor Sir Chris Whitty to give evidence to COVID inquiry today

Published

12 months ago

November 21, 2023

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Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, will be the latest high-profile figure to reveal his first-hand experience of the COVID pandemic when he gives evidence to the inquiry later today.

Sir Chris became a household name alongside the chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, when the pair appeared alongside politicians at the daily COVID press conferences.

As chief medical officer, Sir Chris is responsible for providing public health and clinical advice to the Department of Health and the rest of government. Along with Sir Patrick, he helped steer the UK through the unprecedented crisis.

Before he was launched into the limelight, Sir Chris played a leading role advising on the UK response to the Ebola epidemic in 2014 as chief scientific adviser to the Department for International Development.

He has previously given evidence to module one of the inquiry, which looked at how prepared the UK was for a pandemic when COVID-19 struck.

Sir Chris said during that module that the UK did “not have the ability to scale up” quickly to deal with the pandemic in areas such as testing, and that the non-pharmaceutical interventions – social measures such as quarantine, individual isolation, closing schools – were not new and some went back to the Middle Ages.

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In WhatsApp messages leaked to The Daily Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott after she helped write Matt Hancock’s book, Pandemic Diaries, it was revealed that Sir Chris advised against imposing a lockdown “sex ban” because couples were “not likely to listen” to orders to stay apart.

But it is module two of the inquiry, on decision-making, that is more overtly political and is likely to generate the most headlines.

His colleague at the time, Sir Patrick, was doing just that yesterday, telling the inquiry about some of the reflections he had written in his contemporaneous diary.

Tensions between politicians and scientists, and among themselves, were palpable.

‘Just let people die’

Among the most eye-catching claims yesterday was that Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, had said that Rishi Sunak thought the government should “just let people die” rather than see the country go into another lockdown.

Sir Patrick’s diary entry said Mr Cummings made the remark during a heated meeting over whether to impose stricter pandemic measures in October 2020.

In the extract, shown to the inquiry on Monday, Sir Patrick said Mr Johnson had argued against any lockdown, saying he was for “letting it all rip” and that those who would die from contracting the virus had “had a good innings”.

Sir Patrick then detailed a row between Mr Johnson and his chief adviser, with Mr Cummings calling for the PM to act, but the former prime minister was “getting very frustrated” and “throwing papers down” in the meeting, before saying he did not want another lockdown.

The meeting ended with an agreement to “beef up” the tier system being implemented across the country at the time and to “consider a national lockdown”.

Sir Patrick also wrote: “DC [Dominic Cummings] says ‘Rishi thinks just let people die and that’s OK’.”

Sir Patrick also told the inquiry that neither he nor Sir Chris knew about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme before it was announced, but that they felt it was “very obvious to anyone that this inevitably would cause an increase in transmission risk, and I think that would have been known by ministers”.

Mr Sunak’s witness statement refutes this, saying: “I don’t recall any concerns about the scheme being expressed during ministerial discussions” – including those attended by Sir Patrick and Sir Chris.

‘We found it useful to work together’

Sir Patrick was also asked about differences of opinions he had with the chief medical officer in the early stages of the pandemic after scientist Sir Jeremy Farrar wrote his own diary entry in which he described “friction” between the two.

Asked whether there was tension between himself and Sir Chris, Sir Patrick said the chief medical officer was a public health specialist who was rightly concerned about the adverse effects of interventions such as lockdown.

He said Sir Chris was “concerned that there would be more than just the issue of the direct cause of death from the virus”, including the impact on the NHS, isolating, mental health and loneliness as well as “indirect long term consequences” such as poverty.

“And that I think is a totally appropriate worry from the chief medical officer and a legitimate public health concern throughout,” Sir Patrick said.

“And I didn’t have exactly the same worry. I was more on the side of we need to move on this, but I think that’s partly why the two of us found it useful to work together.”

If Sir Patrick’s testimony is anything to go by, then the inquiry will likely be braced for further revelations later today.

UK

Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.

Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.

She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.

A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.

Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.

“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.

“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”

The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.

In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.

“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”

Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.

UK

Mohamed al Fayed’s brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Mohamed al Fayed's brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.

Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.

The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.

One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.

Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.

Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.

The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”

The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.

Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.

The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.

A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.

“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.

One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.

Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.

UK

Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Wes Streeting 'crossed the line' by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.

Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.

MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.

But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.

He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.

Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.

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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.

“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.

“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.

“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”

Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.

She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.

“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.

The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.

Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.