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.

So covering BLM protests. Blm was peaceful, so no problem.

Now. Sarah Everard memorial gathering (which, if you remember the police were very heavy handed)
Marton says it was too challenging and there was a confusion.

He is avoiding commenting on what happened at Sarah Everards memorial.

Priti Patel agrees while some work had been done to prepare for pandemics, there was no sophisticated plan in place for what to do in places like the borders.

Hugo Keith for the inquiry asks if govt had to essentially just work out what to do.

"That's fair" says Dame Priti.

Priti Patel says she received advice at start of pandemic that closing the border would have "minimum impact" on spread & community transmission. She says the advice said it wouldn't have helped the NHS & govt didn't have technical ability to do things like temp checks at border.

Priti Patel asked if there was a "distinct absence of practical capability to be able to restrict the infection through the border".

She says "I think that's absolutely correct".

lunch break

Now talking about fines being issued disproportionately to age and race.

from March 2020 to May 2020 - Asian/Black peiple 1.8 times more likely to get a fine than white people

They created an independent ethics commitee.

The public have to understand this was very difficult for the police

From May 2020 onwards, Asian and Black people were 2.8 times. Ore likely to get fines

Catching up. Thank you for the posts ^^

Priti Patel talking corporate drivel

Gosh I am so unsurprised by this

Summary from the BBC

As the inquiry breaks for lunch, here's what we've learned so far this morning:

• In the last hour or so, we heard from former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel who said it was "evident very early on" that the UK didn't have the ability to stop Covid at the border. She said there was "no technical capability" - such as screening - and also agreed it was "fair" to say there were no developed plans in place about what to do at the border in a pandemic
• She said she was given advice that shutting the borders early would have had a "minimal impact" at preventing the spread of the virus - but that discussions about the border were in some ways political, as well as focused on public health.
• Earlier Martin Hewitt - former head of the National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) - said there was a "lack of clarity" on Covid rules. At times, the NPCC were told of regulation changes "minutes" before they came into force, he said
• Hewitt also said here was confusion over the policing of protests, including after the murder of Sarah Everard
• And, in a rare intervention, the chair of the inquiry, Baroness Hallett, criticised government legislation giving police the power to enforce people to be tested for the virus. She said she "shouldn't criticise, but that's a bad piece of legislation" -

Priti Patel back giving evidence at the Covid-19 Inquiry now... the focus now is on hidden harms, such as domestic abuse victims & the impact of lockdown.

I'm listening now, re 'escaping injury or harm' as permitted reasons for being exemptions to staying locked down.

PP dropping Hannah Young in the shit re communications to the nation by Johnson.

She is!

It's all very political talking- answering a question without answering the question.

I can understand why politicians do it when they are being interviewed by the media, but its not appropriate for an inquiry.

very annoying.

Well, PP was exhausting herself in endless discussions over all these important things all the time and it wasn't her fault if the PM didn't communicate that to domestic abuse victims blah blah police ... stakeholders ... communications ... professionalism ...

Oh now Martin Hewitt is going under the bus

She is talking about how she pushed at the start of the pandemic for the definition of vulnerable people to be broadened saying "I'm not sure my colleagues in govt thanked me at the time" for doing that.

And Hancock and Johnson being blamed ...

So why, Hugo Keith KC asks, over the course whole pandemic, was the system for drawing up regulations not improved, if the system - the process - was so crap?

PP blames Health & SS and Cabinet Office. Nowt to do with her.

HK KC queries this. She seems to be saying she was over-ruled.

She is blaming the Department of Health for everything

Ha, you said it better AutumnCrow

Everyone blames the Department of Health.

One drink for each time Matt Hancock gets mentioned

Oh super, a discussion of the meaning of 'egregious' as per the regulations. Ffs, can she not hear herself?

'Flee harm' = clear. Not clearly communicated by Home Office. Blames Health and Cabinet Office.

'Egregious breaches' = Home Office regulations, communicated by her to PM, Cabinet, police ...

HK KC shuts down her Public Appointment Interview Mode, bless him.

'Crushing irony' phrase employed by him now. PP resumes The Mode.

Oh god, I'm going to have an alcohol problem by the time this inquiry ends.

Fmr Home Sec Priti Patel - "throughout the pandemic I felt I spent a great deal of time reminding my colleagues of the role of policing... and also operational independence, and that we as politicians were not there to dictate directly to the police as to when to arrest people".

dig at Braverman?

Also didn't she suggest people should report on their neighbours

The main points I am taking away from all of the witnesses is that nobody really knew what the f#*k they were doing, and now that they have to account for themselves, they blame everyone else. I too enjoyed the 'crushing irony' remark from Hugo Keith.

This is nuts. Cressida Dick is widely suspected to have known in advance there were plans for the Sarah Everard vigil to be disrupted by a certain radical group. It was all over Twitter ffs.