Covid inquiry live: Priti Patel admits policing of Sarah Everard vigil was ‘totally inappropriate’
Ex-home secretary says police generally struck right balance between protest and Covid restrictions
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Your support makes all the difference.Dame Priti Patel has admitted to the Covid inquiry that the policing of a vigil for murdered marketing executive Sarah Everard was “totally inappropriate”.
The former home secretary said she was “dismayed” by the policing of the vigil in early 2021. The Metropolitan Police have since apologised and paid damages to two of those who were arrested.
However, Dame Priti said she felt the police generally struck the right balance between enforcing coronavirus restrictions and upholding people’s right to protest – despite such matters feeling “uncomfortable” at the time.
Earlier today, former top police chief Martin Hewitt criticised localised Covid rules, the speed at which they changed, and the tier system of different regulations for different areas of the country.
He told the inquiry that localised tiers made it “incredibly difficult for even a perfectly law-abiding and committed citizen to understand precisely what that meant for them in their own personal circumstances”, while having different regulations “on opposite sides of the same road” made policing more difficult.
Jun Pang, the policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, is also giving evidence to the inquiry.
Covid was the ‘wrong crisis for Boris Johnson’s skillset,’ Cain
Lee Cain has said Covid was the “wrong crisis for this prime minister’s skill set”, adding that Boris Johnson would “would often delay making decisions” and “change his mind on issues”, Archie Mitchell reports.
“Sometimes in politics, that can be a great strength,” Mr Cain told the official Covid inquiry, citing Brexit as an example.
“If you look at something like Covid, you need quick decisions, and you need people to hold the course,” Mr Cain said.
“So I felt it was the wrong challenge for him,” he added.
Cain: Downing Street suffered from ‘lack of leadership’
Lee Cain, Boris Johnson’s former communications chief, said he agreed there was a "lack of leadership’’ and "chaos’’ in government, Archie Mitchell reports.
Counsel to the Covid inquiry Andrew O’Connor KC put it to him: "The general theme of lack of leadership, chaos, if you like, is one that you agree with?’’ The long-term aide replied: "Yes.’’
The Cabinet Office was ‘terrifyingly s***’ - Cummings
Lee Cain has been shown a WhatsApp message sent by Dominic Cummings during the pandemic which described the Cabinet Office as "terrifyingly s***", Archie Mitchell reports.
The former head of comms in Downing Street said he agreed but would "not quite use that language".
The message from Mr Cummings to Boris Johnson said: "We got big problems coming, Cabinet Office is terrifyingly s***, no plans, totally behind pace."
Mr Johnson’s ex-chief of staff went on to say him, Mr Cain and other political aides were having to "drive and direct".
Covid inquiry: Watch evidence session live
As we are reporting, Lee Cain is giving evidence to the Covid inquiry.
Dominic Cumming is up later this morning.
We’ll bring you updates throughout the session. You can also watch proceedings live on The Independent’s YouTube channel.
Lee Cain: Johnson had no ‘clarity of purpose’ by March 2020
Boris Johnson had no "clarity of purpose" by March 2020 and no "serious plan" to deal with the pandemic, Lee Cain has said, Archie Mitchell reports.
Referring to an action plan published by the government on March 3, Mr Cain said: "Anyone who read the document will see that it’s not a it’s not a plan to deal with Covid.
“That is a very thin overview of how we may manage the virus if it progresses."
Boris Johnson compared Covid to Swine Flu
Lee Cain has said Boris Johnson stressed the importance of "not overreacting" to the emergence of the pandemic in January 2020, likening it to viruses such as swine flu, Archie Mitchell reports.
"He was worried about the government being swept up in a in a sort of media hysteria and overreacting and causing more harm than then he would otherwise," Mr Cain told the official Covid inquiry.
A message sent by Mr Cain in early March said: "He doesn’t think it’s a big deal and doesn’t think anything can be done and his focus is elsewhere, he thinks it’ll be like swine flu and he thinks his main danger is talking economy [sic] into a slump."
"Yes, the prime minister should have done more," Mr Cain told the inquiry.
Cain: Covid was a low priority in January 2020
Lee Cain has said Covid was seen in January 2020 as a “low priority” and just “one of many” issues being discussed inside Downing Street, Archie Mitchell reports.
The former head of communications said only “the most difficult” issues are dealt with in No10, but added it was being monitored closely by officials in the department of health.
But he added: “As we moved through January and February, it’s clear we got that assessment wrong, but I think you can probably see why we made the decisions that we did at the time.”
Cain begins evidence
Lee Cain has started giving evidence to the Covid inquiry.
He is asked about his role as communications chief and adviser to the prime minister.
He said he had a good working relationship with Johnson when asked if the pair were friends.
Below is a closer look at the spin doctor at the heart of Britain’s Covid response:
Who is Lee Cain? A closer look at spin doctor who caused No 10 uproar
The PR man was a key Dominic Cummings ally – having forged friendship during Brexit wars
Sunak: King’s speech will focus on growing economy
Rishi Sunak said the King’s speech would focus on measures to “grow the economy, to strengthen society and to keep people safe”.
Opening a cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning, the prime minister said the recently ended last session of parliament had been “historic” and would have a “big impact”.
“But we’re not stopping there, we will keep demonstrating to the country that we are ambitious for what we want to achieve.”
The King is expected to open the new session of parliament on 7 November.
Johnson did ‘everything he could’ to avoid discussing Covid at start of pandemic
Boris Johnson did “everything he could” to avoid discussing Covid at the outset of the pandemic, a former Tory health minister has claimed.
Lord Bethell told Radio 4’s Today programme it was “very difficult” to get a response from Downing Street when the virus first started to take hold in late January/early February 2020.
Lord Bethell was parliamentary under-secretary in the health department from March 2020 to September 2021.
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