The key players who presided over the government’s ‘chaotic’ Covid pandemic response
Boris Johnson and his chief adviser have fostered a “toxic and chaotic culture” in Downing Street that is undermining efforts to tackle the pandemic, the Covid Inquiry has found.
Baroness Heather Hallett’s report into the response to Covid-19 criticized Mr Johnson’s over-optimism in the face of the looming pandemic and his failure to take key lockdown decisions.
The report concluded that more than 20,000 lives could have been saved and a full lockdown avoided in 2020 if restrictions were introduced sooner.
Lady Hallet described Dominic Cummings as a “destabilizing influence” who used “offensive, sexualized and misogynistic” language and “poisoned” the atmosphere in Downing Street.
Then-health secretary Matt Hancock was also criticized for not being “candid” enough about the UK’s ability to deal with the virus.
Here are Lady Hallet’s findings on each of the senior figures in the UK government.
Boris Johnson
The report accused Mr Johnson of failing to address a “chaotic culture” at the heart of the British government where “the loudest voices prevail” and women are often “left aside”.
Lady Hallet said Mr Johnson had “actively encouraged” such a culture and allowed Mr Cummings to make decisions that should have been made by the prime minister.
He said Mr Johnson had “failed to exercise appropriate leadership to fix the toxic and chaotic culture that has negatively impacted decision-making”.
The former prime minister was also criticized for his handling of the first Covid outbreak and subsequent lockdowns.
Mr Johnson was optimistic that Covid would “mean nothing” and as a result failed to appreciate the need for prime ministerial leadership on Covid.
The report found that his attention was on “other priorities” and that Covid was not even among the top five issues on his desk by mid-February 2020.
He also did not chair an emergency Cobra committee meeting on the issue until March 2020.
When the government came to consider a second lockdown in autumn 2020, Lady Hallett said Mr Johnson “repeatedly changed his mind about whether to introduce tougher restrictions and failed to make timely decisions”.
He said the “swing” had led to delays in the implementation of restrictions and enabled the virus to continue to spread “rapidly”, despite understanding “the importance of early interventions” at this stage.
Lady Hallett said Mr Johnson’s experience of the first lockdown meant “he must realize that if he is likely to have to impose restrictions on the public, it would be beneficial to do so sooner rather than later”.
Additionally, Covid rule breaches such as “partygate”, where meetings and parties were held at No10 throughout 2020, have also caused “huge distress” to the public. The report said it particularly thanked bereaved people who followed the rules and guidance despite the huge personal and financial costs.
The Downing Street party saga in particular has led to a “self-reported” drop in the number of rule-abiding people over Christmas 2021.
Dominik Cummings
By November 2020, Mr Johnson’s chief adviser was found to have “contributed to the toxic and sexist workplace culture at the heart of the UK government”, according to Lady Hallett.
Mr Cummings was accused of using “offensive, sexualized and misogynistic language” and launching a “misogynistic attack” on a senior civil servant.
Although Lady Hallett acknowledged Mr Cummings’ “talent” and praised his action in persuading the government to change course in early 2020, she said he had created a “culture of fear, mutual suspicion and distrust” at No 10 that was “poisoning the atmosphere”.
He added that he had “stepped too far from his role as a special adviser” and had “tried to take important decisions” that the prime minister should have made, possibly breaking the rules on special advisers by sacking the then cabinet secretary, Sir Mark (now Lord) Sedwill.
Matt Hancock
The then health secretary led the initial response to Covid and reassured fellow ministers that the UK was well prepared for a pandemic.
But Lady Hallett said he had gained a reputation among colleagues for “over-promising and under-delivering”.
He accused Mr Hancock of not being “candid” enough and said his assurances that the country was prepared and his department was dealing effectively with the crisis were “unfair”.
Lady Hallett also criticized Sir Chris Wormald, who was then permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care and is now cabinet secretary.
He said Mr Hancock had failed to take action to “correct the impression of over-enthusiasm” he had given, ultimately overshadowing the need for further action.
Their actions “obscured the truth and the need for further action” throughout the spring of 2020.
Rishi Altar
The then chancellor was criticized for failing to seek scientific advice on his “eating out to help out” plan.
Lady Hallett said the scheme to offer discounted restaurant meals in the summer of 2020 to provide cash for the struggling hospitality industry was “designed in the absence of scientific advice” and “undermines public health messages”.
This is despite Professor Chris Whitty advising on the risks of indoor environments.
Devolved leaders
Baroness Hallett found the country’s devolved leaders were too dependent on the UK government and acted “too little, too late”.
But he praised Scottish chief minister Nicola Sturgeon as a “serious and hard-working leader” and Welsh chief minister Mark Drakeford as “careful and thoughtful”, but criticized the decision to attend a St David’s Day event in Brussels instead of the Welsh cabinet meeting in March 2020.
Lady Hallett was more critical of the response in Northern Ireland, saying the decision-making process had been “broken” by disagreements between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
And they both criticized then-deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill for attending the funeral of veteran republican and former IRA man Bobby Storey in June 2020, and then first minister Baroness Arlene Foster in June 2020 for “inappropriately inciting cross-community votes to make political points”.
