Dominic Cummings Covid evidence

[Newtonianmechanics]

Is anyone going to watch this man give evidence today?

Apparently there is a vigil in Barnard Castle ahead of this.

The shopping trolleys emoji seems to mean they think Carrie was controlling Boris from the last few days. Wonder if this will feature.

If you want hope listen to Sir John Bell summarise the inquiry a day or two ago on R4 morning programme who sensibly talked about what the focus should be in the inquiry, and that it’s not there atm

He pretty much says people made mistakes, politicians, civil servants and scientists.

But we need to learn for next one not just look at all the stressing etc (this WhatsApp stuff feels like useful DM fodder to me, no one else is going through that stuff line by line)

And that amazing stuff was achieved - look at that.

Also Whitty said similar, so many criticising or lobbing abuse you need to be careful otherwise people just won’t step up to the firing line next time

I’m not watching, but I hope Sir John Bell and others like him speak at some point

And that amazing stuff was achieved - look at that.

What amazing stuff? It was cock up after cock up - and that’s being kind because some of it was deliberate.

Listen to R4 Sir John Bell

Why when a crisis was clearly coming in January and February 2020 did the government do nothing to prepare?

Why did the government refuse to listen to experts including but not limited to its own cabinet ministers?

The way the government behaved during Covid was absolutely criminal and it’s right we know the details. Johnson, Hancock etc gaslight the nation every night, coming on TV and telling us lie after lie.

We have to hope we never have a goverment like this again and I hope we ask the question, why were these incompetents anywhere near the top table? And the answer imo is Brexit. (All the sane, moderate MPs weren’t allowed anywhere near the cabinet). The liar Johnson and his cronies deserve every single minute of scrutiny.

Advice to pp for what to listen to from someone sensible and correct, not to respond to same posters over and over

Quote loop was irritating enough last time

I presume the previous poster is refering to leaving every decision as late as possible thus ensuring that the pandemic had the biggest possible impact and we had the harsher restrictions than if decisions were made in good time.

Also listen to Whitty evidence on own goal of abuse

I recall it on here too and it was obvious it would be detrimental

Which program, episodes, dates?

I'm sure that individually there will have been great things during COVID. We know people who did great work for the country.

But the way it was handled and managed by our leadership looks incompetent, personalised and partisan. People were prosecuted for going out, holding parties, while their leadership took their own privileges by writing guidance.

The Conservatives got an event that could not be spun politically; and when it was, we see it actually made things worse, "eat out to help out".

Why did this shabby, self interested D team have power? Brexit is spot on. Johnson did not even have the best people in his own party. He had a team even he called the "Munsters". That's what happened to the UK. The inquiry should not be all about him, but it should finish the idea of him as a statesman or a serious person.

See pp

Johnson did not even have the best people in his own party… The inquiry should not be all about him, but it should finish the idea of him as a statesman or a serious person

Everything in Boris Johnson’s mind is about him. See his recent trip to Israel. There is absolutely no appropriate reason for him to go but he has to put himself at the centre of everything.

There are questions being asked about Bell's financial interests

Can't you use google for yourself?

It was in pp I’m sure they can scroll down a couple of posts

A strong argument for having a government when presented with a forthcoming crisis would have prepared and planned and introduced some restrictions much sooner so that the effects were reduced overall.

I actually did and that's how I found that he has some non disclosed financial interests in the pharmaceutical sector

Didn't help me with his appearances on R4 though....

Can you scroll to a pp?

It’s really not that hard…

A very long but very detailed thread, and it's not even finished yet.

https://x.com/jim_reed/status/1721675893544718737?s=20

OK so let's talk about Ben Warner's evidence Monday to #covidinquiry as was really detailed and interesting but not kind of thing can easily put into a 500 word news article for BBC website. Here he is on morning of 14/3/20 with Boris Johnson in cabinet room. 1/n

first witness today, Simon Ridley (Former Head of Cabinet Office COVID-19 Taskforce) has now been sworn in and begins his evidence.

He is being questioned by Lead Counsel to the Inquiry Hugo Keith KC.

There is an unspoken issue in the witness list; that is a lot of former civil servants who have had their careers ruined by working with Johnson. A lot of them would have expected to rise further. Or are now expecting to be dismissed: these people did not become incompetent overnight. But whatever happened, they simply didn't or couldn't get their advice to count enough with Johnson.

This seems to me to be the real failure. A national crisis that largely wasn't political but was still being played for political points inside No 10. That's why Johnson isn't any kind of statesman - he absolutely failed to rise to the occasion.

It's also why he's busy going to Ukraine, Israel etc. Any PM who is a domestic failure likes the easy thrill of international issues. Though it is definitely tone deaf to go to these places when he has no influence to make it any better.

Seeing as you quoted me, I'll reply back

I am looking for hope, but I'm not sure Sir John Bell is the beacon of light I'm looking for.

If you want hope listen to Sir John Bell summarise the inquiry a day or two ago on R4 morning programme who sensibly talked about what the focus should be in the inquiry, and that it’s not there atm

Baroness Hallett is the chair, she set the Terms of References for the Inquiry, ie what the focus should be.

Sir John Bell can have any opinion he wants on what the focus should be. I suspect he wants the focus to be on the Vaccines as this what he was involved in.
But you know that phrase "becareful what you wish for", well that applies to him, which I'll explain below.

He pretty much says people made mistakes, politicians, civil servants and scientists.
Yes, agreed.

But we need to learn for next one not just look at all the stressing etc (this WhatsApp stuff feels like useful DM fodder to me, no one else is going through that stuff line by line)

Again everyone has opinions on how to conduct a "Lessons Learned" review
Some people just want an overview of all the key decisions and learn from that.
Some people, like me, want an in depth, line by line review, so that we can have a lessons learned document lhich ooks at the full details of everything.

And that amazing stuff was achieved - look at that

I'm sure Sir John Bell knows we are only on Module 2. There are many more modules to go and the inquiry will be running for the next 2 years.
There will be plenty of opportunities to find out all the amazing stuff that was achieved.

Also Whitty said similar, so many criticising or lobbing abuse you need to be careful otherwise people just won’t step up to the firing line next time

Criticising is one thing, lobbing abuse is another.
Nobody should have abuse lobbed at them, and iirc the 2 men who did were arrested.

But everybody, no matter who they are, should be open to criticism or scrutiny.

Nobody is perfect.

I’m not watching, but I hope Sir John Bell and others like him speak at some poin

I am watching, everyday and listening to everything.
I'm not sure if Sir John Bell will give evidence, if he does it would likely be in Module 3: Vaccines.
Sir John Bell needs to be a little careful here.
He was on the board of AstraZeneca. The British Medical Jounal tred to find out his link (I.e his conflict of interest) between being on the board of AstraZeneca company and if he had any influence with the UK government when making the decision to buy the AstraZeneca vaccine.
and how did he personally finacially benefit from that deal.

You may hope he speaks at the Inquiry, I definitely want him to speak at the Inquiry.
I'm not so sure Sir John Bell will be happy to answer some questions the KC will put to him about this.

A Downing Street official wrote to colleagues in April 2020 to question the Government's approach to discharging thousands of patients to care homes, given that "once someone gets it in one of these places many die."

The discharges continued to go ahead anyway.

https://x.com/AdamBienkov/status/1721842606945018311?s=20

NEW: Simon Ridley, who as head of the Covid task force was supposedly central to all pandemic-based planning in government, says he was not consulted or told about Rishi Sunak's Eat Out To Help Out scheme before it was announced.

Asked by Hugo Keith if he was concerned by this, Ridley spends a good 30 second mumbling before saying, "This was announced as government policy". Asked if he was "completely blindsided by the Treasury and there was nothing you could do", Ridley says: "Correct".

https://twitter.com/peterwalker99/status/1721859911905132803?t=-VErK5O9pVpC3hkIaDYSww&s=19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning