i cabinet office level are inadequate to deat— cabinet office level are inadequate to deal with — cabinet the challenges in the crisis response become - to deal with them so the challenges in the crisis response become muchi in the crisis response become much more _ in the crisis response become much more evident — in the crisis response become much more evident at _ in the crisis response become much more evident at that _ in the crisis response become much more evident at that stage. - in the crisis response become much more evident at that stage. 50 - in the crisis response become much more evident at that stage.- more evident at that stage. so the failure is, more evident at that stage. so the failure is. if— more evident at that stage. so the failure is, if that's _ more evident at that stage. so the failure is, if that's what _ more evident at that stage. so the failure is, if that's what my - more evident at that stage. so the failure is, if that's what my lady i failure is, if that's what my lady finds that they are, when across the board because there was a failure to produce pla

i _ cabinet office? i think it is two separate things. i was - cabinet office? ate office were thought did an absolutely extraordinaryjob. but i thought that the overall structure in which the private office operated clearly didn't work and, you know, you had a relatively tiny number of people with, as i say, relativelyjunior people suddenly being completely swamped by being asked to solve huge numbers of problems from all across the system. so when i say the private office didn't work, it wasn't that, this is not a criticism of the people in it, it is that it was swamped by the broader dysfunction of the cabinet office. could be have, please, the letter that you sent to the inquiry 48313 on page 56. this, i think, if we go back to the previous page, thank you very much. you can see this as an e—mail that you sent on monday the 13th ofjuly, right at the bottom of the page. it is a lengthy e—mail, isn't it, mr cummings, in which you set out your views on a number of different parts of the government machine, there had been for some time, you'd raise the issue in j

in the cabinet office, not numberten. wasjust completely office, not numberten. numberten was just completely unsuitable for this and that is why i try to change it in january this and that is why i try to change it injanuary and try this and that is why i try to change it in january and try to this and that is why i try to change it injanuary and try to change it in the summer. in it in january and try to change it in the summer.— it in january and try to change it in the summer. ., ., , ,': ::' ,., in the summer. in paragraph 301 you sa , as in the summer. in paragraph 301 you say. as with — in the summer. in paragraph 301 you say. as with the _ in the summer. in paragraph 301 you say, as with the cabinet _ in the summer. in paragraph 301 you say, as with the cabinet office, - in the summer. in paragraph 301 you say, as with the cabinet office, it - say, as with the cabinet office, it is problems and lack of specialist skills combined with its responsibility for human resources and recruitment. there were problems with t

the cabinet office? i think there clearly >> yes, i think there clearly were some people in the cabinet office who were in the wrong jobs. the cabinet secretary and i had had quite a few frank discussions about some of these problems going back into 2019. he actually removed some of the people that my request and moved them on to other things, though of course, it's all been whitehall. they were often promoted than actually promoted rather than actually removed. , there were . i removed. so yes, there were. i agree with the thrust of your question . question. >> who else did you have in mind by that observation that there were the wrong people in those jobs as well ? jobs as well? >> i think . you'd never sought >> i think. you'd never sought that job, bob. and he had serious doubts about the wisdom of combining the cabinet secretary's job and the national security adviser job. i think that that was correct. and mark was a very able diplomat. he had enormous skills in all sorts of ways . but that . the w

it is a group within the cabinet office _ body?p within the cabinet office that will i body? it is a group within the | cabinet office that will consist body? it is a group within the i cabinet office that will consist of highly trained campaigning professionals, who understand a lot of the newer media techniques. the general thesis would be that the departments themselves would have to pitch into that central body to have campaigns they wanted to do green—lighted because the government spends hundreds of millions on campaigns and 162 a year when i was there, most of which people don't notice. the metrics for measuring them a pretty poor so we just wanted to professionalise that particular area. 50 to professionalise that particular area, y., to professionalise that particular area. ., ., area. so you say through that central body _ area. so you say through that central body there _ area. so you say through that central body there were i area. so you say through that i central body there were attempts to coordinate public health me

bill gone terribly wrong in the cabinet office. �* ., , gone terribly wrong in the cabinet office. �*y _ office. all right. on friday 13th march, the inquiry understand| office. all right. on friday 13th - march, the inquiry understand that of course there was the meeting in the evening, involving yourself and others, at which a plan b to use your wording was sketched out on a why white board. pit is at 49313 page " why white board. pit is at 49313 page —— 44 —— 48313. eseanly mr couple, and if you would confirm yes or no, this white board was the first emanation of plan b, which recognised that to stop the nhs collapsing there would have to be consideration of a lockdown, and of course it deals with the number of deaths, that would occur in a reasonable worst case scenario, it deals with issues as to how you deal with contact, what the differences are between plan a and b, who not to save,ie are between plan a and b, who not to save, ie who is at risk, and full lockdown before collapse. yes. this white board — lockdown before collapse. yes. this white board is _ lockdown before colla

thatj then feeds into a cabinet office a set of— then feeds into a cabinet office a set of structuress which _ then feeds into a cabinet office a set of structures which were - then feeds into a cabinet office a set of structures which were not i set of structures which were not designed — set of structures which were not designed to— set of structures which were not designed to manage _ set of structures which were not designed to manage a _ set of structures which were not designed to manage a whole - set of structures which were not designed to manage a whole ofi designed to manage a whole of government— designed to manage a whole of government crisis— designed to manage a whole of government crisis in— designed to manage a whole of government crisis in that - designed to manage a whole ofi government crisis in that nature designed to manage a whole of- government crisis in that nature and that's— government crisis in that nature and that's what— government crisis in that nature and that's what i— government crisis in that nature and that's what i think _ government crisis in that

i cabinet office, are not. do you agree with that?— cabinet office, are not.the same language _ agree with that? i might not use the same language but— agree with that? i might not use the same language but generally, - agree with that? i might not use the same language but generally, yes. i same language but generally, yes. can you give us more detail? who was it? individuals or sections within the cabinet office that were feeling at that crucial moment? i the cabinet office that were feeling at that crucial moment?— at that crucial moment? i think the oint was at that crucial moment? i think the point was nobody _ at that crucial moment? i think the point was nobody quite _ at that crucial moment? i think the point was nobody quite knew- at that crucial moment? i think the point was nobody quite knew who i at that crucial moment? i think the i point was nobody quite knew who was the point person who was in charge, who should be driving this machine, who should be driving this machine, who is meant to be in charge of coordinating all the policy. if you ask me

in angry reaction in the cabinet office. . ., office. in particular it was he reprimanded _ office. reprimanded by _ office. in particular it was he reprimanded by the - office. in particular it was he i reprimanded by the permanent secretary of the dhse for having, as the permanent secretary appear to think, promoted, advocated, a change in direction without the permanent secretary's knowledge? that in direction without the permanent secretary's knowledge?— secretary's knowledge? that is my understanding _ secretary's knowledge? that is my understanding and _ secretary's knowledge? that is my understanding and you _ secretary's knowledge? that is my understanding and you can - secretary's knowledge? that is my understanding and you can see - secretary's knowledge? that is myi understanding and you can see the messages on the 18th that the permanent secretary at dhse was behind the curve on this whole discussion.— behind the curve on this whole discussion. �* .. , ., , , discussion. because he was still talkin: discussion. because he was still talking about — discussion. because he

some element of the system offered in the cabinet office would _ system offered in the cabinet office what had been agreed and in _ would not like what had been agreed and in the _ would not like what had been agreed and in the best sir humphrey, yes, minister— and in the best sir humphrey, yes, minister style, they would wait for me and _ minister style, they would wait for me and other people to not be around the prime _ me and other people to not be around the prime minister and they would p0p the prime minister and they would pop in_ the prime minister and they would pop in to _ the prime minister and they would pop in to see the prime minister and say, dear— pop in to see the prime minister and say, dear prime minister, i think this decision really wasn't the best idea _ this decision really wasn't the best idea. perhaps you should trolley on it. idea. perhaps you should trolley on it this— idea. perhaps you should trolley on it this was— idea. perhaps you should trolley on it. this was a general problem. you should trolley _ it. this was a general problem. you should trolley on

there was an assumption across government, across the cabinet office department of health and sage, that lockdown was impossible in a western country, any way we didn't have the all of tinges that you needed in place to actual will do it, you didn't have test and trace and what not you would need to have afterwards, that vaccines were almost definitely not going to have any impact at least in 2020 and possibly never, so the whole point was, that up to and including the week of the 9th, the debate you keep referring to, there wasn't a debate, that was the whole problem, there wasn't a debate about the fundamental assumptions underlying plan a, there wasn't a debate until me and others started to i saying hang on a second, if you actually fall law the logic of what plan a is it will be a catastrophe —— follow. and we have to ask these questions and consider an alternative plan b, but before that, there was no debate about this, it was just assumed. there was a debate at the scientific level, between mitigation and suppression, but it may be than that debate and the merits of mitigation ver

and sage did in the cabinet office and sage did in the beginning and you think there is no effectiveerd immunityf no effective altern toy to herd immunity f you say at the conception level there is shape a curve towards herd immunity or try to build your way out the problem, the entire system in january, way out the problem, the entire system injanuary, february, early march thought that the only plausible approach to this was to shape the curve of herd immunity, known thought it was practical to build our way out of the problem, the fundamental u—turn we shifted to, was to try and build our way out instead of accepting. the material shows that you spent a great deal of time in in april, may, june trying to get on top of the the test problem. june trying to get on top of the the test problem-— june trying to get on top of the the test problem. yes. at what happen oint in test problem. yes. at what happen point in january. — test problem. yes at what happen point injanuary, february or even march did the penny drop in the government, that the absence of a scaled up or significant test

was trying to block the creation of a shielding plan. >> the cabinet office was a bombsite and many officials had come to me and said this is causing chaos . there has to be causing chaos. there has to be some formalised system to actually grip this because the cabinet office was a dumpster fire. the us state department says it's intensely focussed on getting the rafah crossing open to allow foreigners to leave gaza. >> it will reportedly be opened tomorrow. earlier explosions were seen and heard in tel aviv as it suffered its second major rocket barrage of the day. it comes as israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire in the war, saying it would mean surrendering to terrorism in gaza. surrendering to terrorism in gaza . 50 palestinians have gaza. 50 palestinians have reportedly been killed in 150 injured in a suspected israeli airstrike. the director of a nearby hospital in the territory says a densely populated area in a refugee camp was hit in the north of the strip . meanwhile north of the strip. meanwhile a pro—palestine ceasefire rally is curre

prime minister would make a decision about something, some element of the system, often in the cabinet officeeed, and, in the best sir humphrey, yes, minister, style, they would wait for me and other people to not be around the prime minister and they would p0p the prime minister and they would pop in to see the prime minister and take my dear prime minister, i think that this decision really wasn't the best idea. very brave, prime minister. best idea. very brave, prime minister-— best idea. very brave, prime minister. ~ ., , ., ., minister. we are 'ust going to interact that _ minister. we are just going to interact that because - minister. we are just going to interact that because were . minister. we are just going to i interact that because were going minister. we are just going to - interact that because were going to go live to the inquiry, which is resuming again. from march, april, may onwards. why was cobra not effective in the context of the coronavirus crisis?— coronavirus crisis? there are multiple _ coronavirus crisis? there are multiple reasons. _ coronavirus crisis? there are m

, he'd asked the cabinet office to ensure - asked the cabinet office to ensure that number— asked ther 10 e—mail accounts were saved for a future _ that number 10 e—mail accounts were saved for a future lessons _ that number 10 e—mail accounts were saved for a future lessons learned - saved for a future lessons learned exercise — saved for a future lessons learned exercise do — saved for a future lessons learned exercise do you _ saved for a future lessons learned exercise. do you recall— saved for a future lessons learned exercise. do you recall anything . exercise. do you recall anything about— exercise. do you recall anything about that. _ exercise. do you recall anything about that, and _ exercise. do you recall anything about that, and whether- exercise. do you recall anything about that, and whether or - exercise. do you recall anything about that, and whether or notl exercise. do you recall anything - about that, and whether or not there was a _ about that, and whether or not there was a debate — about that, and whether or not there was a debate about _ about that, and whether

was trying to block the creation of a shielding plan . of a shielding plan. >> the cabinet office was a bombsite and many officials had come to me and said this is causing chaos. there has to be some formalised system to actually grip this because the cabinet office was a dumpster . fire >> meanwhile, a group of pro—palestinian actor activists staged a sit in at liverpool street station earlier this evening in protest at the israel hamas conflict . more than 500 hamas conflict. more than 500 people joined the protest to demand an immediate ceasefire to israel's attacks on gaza and an end to arms exports to israel . end to arms exports to israel. while israel's military says it killed a very senior hamas commander after an airstrike on the jabalia refugee camp in northern gaza, the idf has said it killed ibrahim bukhari , who it killed ibrahim bukhari, who it killed ibrahim bukhari, who it says was a ringleader of the attack on october 7th. the airstrike also killed 50 palestinian and left 150 injured. officials are now saying the opening of gaza's rafah border crossing tomorrow will a

know. what the ferguson thing is referring to, but in terms of helen, and the situation in the cabinet officeerstand that the prime minister had first of all, tried to sack the cabinet secretary and botched it and he was still there, then he said to everyone he wanted helen to be removed as well and he has lost confidence in her. the new cabinet secretary had said that he wanted to have the authority to change both the pps and choose his deputy iee helen. the prime minister had trollied back on this as well. so, we were in this absolutely nigh mare situation, where the pm had destroyed, had made clear he didn't have confidence in either of the two senior officials, had said to people he was going to remove them, then he didn't remove them. for week after week, this let to an absolutely nightmare situation. now, my language about helen is, the language about helen is, the language is obviously appalling, and actually i got on well with helen, at a personal level, but a thousand times worse than my bad language is the underlying issue at stake, that we had a cabinet office system that had compl

lady, | the cabinet office disclosed to us, very late _ the cabinet office disclosed to us, very late and mr shafi. because _ between simon case and mr shafi. because of— between simon case and mr shafi. because of the shortness of time we have not— because of the shortness of time we have not been able to disclose that document — have not been able to disclose that document to the court participants, or indeed _ document to the court participants, or indeed the witness. but i am therefore — or indeed the witness. but i am therefore going tojust read out the relevant _ therefore going tojust read out the relevant part. on the 13th of september the same year, at 1230, simon _ september the same year, at 1230, simon case — september the same year, at 1230, simon case whatsapp due to say, this is all a _ simon case whatsapp due to say, this is all a bit _ simon case whatsapp due to say, this is all a bit of— simon case whatsapp due to say, this is all a bit of a fast, to be honest _ is all a bit of a fast, to be honest. i'm not sure why we don't 'ust honest. i'm not sure why we don't jus

a dumpster fire. >> the cabinet office was a dump ster fire.o assume that's a bad thing. so who was the best man for the job? i'm assuming the prime minister. i mean, surely it would be the prime minister that was the best person for the job. >> why did you want michael gove to be in charge of regular devolved administration updates and minister? and not the prime minister? >> thought gove would >> i thought gove would handle it times better . it ten times better. >> what? >> handle what? >> handle what? >> ten times better handle the process of dealing with the da's. da's. >> was he the prime minister? >> was he the prime minister? >> obviously no . >> obviously not, no. >> obviously not, no. >> blimey. things must have been very bad . you know you're in very bad. you know you're in trouble when michael gove is your best option. it was a tough day for boris johnson as cummings revealed that he and others who worked with him knew that was to be prime that he was unfit to be prime minister and quote, he won't read papers and he cannot chair meet

discovered at this time was was not only was not a plan for shielding, but many people in the cabinet officeice this is all bull sheds and we will build a system for shielding. they figured out a way to do it. but it was basically cobbled together in 72 hours or something. and from scratch? ., ,. ., . ~ hours or something. and from scratch? ., ,. .. ~ ~ scratch? from scratch. mrjacobs. mr cummings. — scratch? from scratch. mrjacobs. mr cummings. if— scratch? from scratch. mrjacobs. mr cummings. if you _ scratch? from scratch. mrjacobs. mr cummings, if you could _ scratch? from scratch. mrjacobs. mr cummings, if you could keep - scratch? from scratch. mrjacobs. mr cummings, if you could keep your. cummings, if you could keep your answers— cummings, if you could keep your answers a — cummings, if you could keep your answers a little _ cummings, if you could keep your answers a little bit _ cummings, if you could keep your answers a little bit shorter. - cummings, if you could keep your answers a little bit shorter. and . cummings, if you could keep your answers a little bit shorter. and ifj an

why, did the government, so number ten, the cabinet _ the government, so number ten, the cabinet officed uncoiling of the spring _ spring back, and uncoiling of the spring or— spring back, and uncoiling of the spring or shall we mitigate? as opposed — spring or shall we mitigate? as opposed to asking yourself the question, which ever way you cut it, the loss— question, which ever way you cut it, the loss of— question, which ever way you cut it, the loss of life in illness is going to be _ the loss of life in illness is going to be massive and we must take steps to deal— to be massive and we must take steps to deal with _ to be massive and we must take steps to deal with that? i to be massive and we must take steps to deal with that?— to deal with that? i don't think there was _ to deal with that? i don't think there was a — to deal with that? i don't think there was a proper— to deal with that? i don't think there was a proper discussion | to deal with that? i don't think. there was a proper discussion in february about suppress or mitigate. i think, the system, number ten included, def

a cabinet office system that had completely melted.d. boris johnson's judgment caused anger today, he borisjohnson�*s judgment caused anger today, he was obsessed with all the people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going, wrote sir patrick vallance. it showed mr johnson was sociopathic, some of those representing the bereaved said. the overriding impression of what we are seeing here is one of dysfunction. claims of a shambles at the heart of government atjust the moment government was more important to more people than it had been for decades and decades. the other man taking questions today was lee cain, boris johnson's taking questions today was lee cain, borisjohnson�*s man in charge of communications. he reckons his former bath dithered and wasn't suited to leadership in a pandemic. __ by suited to leadership in a pandemic. —— by his former boss. it suited to leadership in a pandemic. -- by his former boss.— -- by his former boss. it was the wron: -- by his former boss. it was the wrong

it wasn't seen as as an imminent crisis in the cabinet office and by the cabinet, by the systems responsibleh cnses. responsible for dealing with crises . when he did briefly crises. when he did briefly reappear for meetings or , for reappear for meetings or, for example, on the meltdown in the home office, as imran and i did talk to him about coronavirus and we did try and get into his head that this was a growing problem and had not gone away . problem and had not gone away. >> you say there was a lack of understanding that there was a crisis. you you had received text messages or information yourself that the virus was probably out of control . cobra probably out of control. cobra had been reporting that there was now clear evidence of sustained transmission even outside china . you knew and outside china. you knew and number 10 knew that the virus had exploded in italy , and you had exploded in italy, and you knew there were cases already in the united kingdom. how can it possibly have been thought that there was no crisis ? there was no crisis? >> well, as i said, round about when the p

was trying to block the creation of a shielding plan. >> the cabinet office was a bombsite and manyofficials had come to me and said this is causing chaos. there has to be some formalised system to actually grip this because the cabinet office was a dumpster . fire >> israel's military says it was targeted . a very senior hamas targeted. a very senior hamas commander in an airstrike on the jabalya refugee camp that as it confirmed it did indeed hit the camp, which killed 50 palestinians. and left 150 injured. the director of a nearby hospital in the territory says a densely populated area in the north strip was targeted . the north strip was targeted. officials are now saying the opening of gaza's rafah border crossing tomorrow will allow for 81 severely wounded palestinians to be treated in egypt . xl bully to be treated in egypt. xl bully dogs will be banned at the end of this year from the 31st of december. it'll be illegal to breed sell or rehome or abandon an xl bully dog exist . doting an xl bully dog exist. doting owners will be required to follow a strict set of rules such a

the cabinet office was a "dumpster fire".e's a swear word coming up — colleagues were also "fuckpigs". two of the then pm's top aides — ex—chief adviser dominic cummings and former number 10 director of communications lee cain — laid bare before the inquiry claims of sheer incompetence in downing street and sometimes across whitehall. mr cain said the pandemic was "the wrong crisis" for mrjohnson's "skillset". we learned from a whatsapp mr cummings sent that he thought the cabinet at the time were utterly useless and he admitted that in the run—up to the first lockdown in march 2020, none of them thought about vulnerable groups — people who were minority ethnic, those on low incomes and victims of domestic abuse — were all "almost entirely appallingly neglected". we'll discuss the implications of what we've heard today in a moment. first, here'sjoe — and his report contains more of that strong language. tales of chaos at the heart of boris johnson's government are nothing new. neither is dominic cummings likening the then pm'

the whole crisis was coming much, much, much faster than we had been told and that the cabinet officel of these official graphs. and secondly, to me, almost worse than this was... like, what on earth is going on? like, how can we be in a situation where the nhs has these graphs showing that we are days away from having to make a decision on what to do to stop this nightmare, but the official system in the cabinet office for dealing with this crisis doesn't seem to understand this? so it wasn't just the sort of, the kind of first—order level of how bad it was, it was also the second—order level of, what on earth is going on in the system that this could be possible ? the inquiry read quite a few of his disparaging whatsapp messages aimed at ministers and members of the civil service — not all of it repeatable, even after the watershed. mr cummings was asked about that as well. you called ministers, "useless— morons. bleepi", in emails and whatsapps l to your professional colleagues. l my appalling language is obviously my own, but myjudgment of a lot of senior people was widespread. an

nicky stewart is the former head of ict delivery at the uk cabinet office and also the former commercialfirst of all about the significance of what 0fcom is looking into here, because cloud computing, we will have heard of it but we won't really know quite how much it shapes our lives day today and how much we rely on it. yes. and how much we rely on it. yes, thank you- _ and how much we rely on it. yes, thank you- it's — and how much we rely on it. yes, thank you. it's hugely _ and how much we rely on it. 1913 thank you. it's hugely significant. arguably long overdue. 0ver thank you. it's hugely significant. arguably long overdue. over the last decade, all of us, all of our lives have become more intrinsically depended on the cloud, as it has moved into market vertical market vertical. notjust her entertain, facebook and so on, it is now our health, our critical national infrastructure, it is now our key public services, given the amount of the public sector relies on cloud and increasingly it is our defence and increasingly it is our defence and security. so it's really important that

there is a standard set of protocols which are actually cabinet office protocols for dealing with crisis deal with the crisis we were confronted with. lines from a diary kept by the chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance, were read out, including calling mrjohnson "weak and indecisive". in the face of a viral pandemic, if those views are right, that was a deeply unfortunate position to be in, was it not? er, yes. so what about the e—mail sent by mr reynolds inviting colleagues to drinks in the garden at number ten? i would first like to say how deeply sorry i am for my part in those events and for the e—mail message which went out that day. whatsapp messages were also shown. the head of the civil service, simon case, said of mrjohnson, "i'm at the end of my tether, he changes strategic direction every day." "it has to stop." "government isn't actually that hard, but this guy is making it impossible." and from the downing street aide dominic cummings, "totally agree, and he's careering around on whatsapp as usual, creating chaos and undermining everybody." another official, imran

high government officials, including cabinet officers, held meetings with the demonstrators to listen, try to work out solutions to many other problems. >> we are going to be leaving here very slowly. right now. follow the absolute direction than the directives of the march but even as the voices of rea >> kethose who spoke of nonviolence, restraint to this gathering, seeds of discontent were taking root in the camp itself. tensions and discord continued until after many arrests and increasing violence. it was then finally decided by government officials to not extend for a second time to permit sanctioning resurrection city. on june 24th, park and district of columbia police began dismantling the wooden hunt and lean teams.when they left, the demonstrators had not achieved their immediate goals, but they had received a fair hearing from the government. even from a congress reluctant to appropriate additional funds to poverty programs for whom they had addressed their major demand. at a news conference on june 26th, the president announced the supreme court chief justice earl warren w

high government officials including cabinet officers held meetings with the demonstrators to listen to their grievances and try to work out solutions to many of their problems. here very means more than 50,000 people gathered between the washington and lincoln monuments for a nine hour peaceful demonstration of solidarity with the nation's poor. it was a capstone event of the poor people's campaign begun two months before to follow the absolute direction than the directives of the march but even as the voices of reasons spoke non-violence and restraint to this gathering seeds of discontent were taking root in the camp itself. tensions and discord continued until after many arrests and increasing violence it was finally decided by government officials to not extend for a second time the permit sanctioning resurrection city. on june 24th park and district of columbia police began dismantling the wooden huts and lean twos. when they left the demonstrators had not achieved their immediate goals. but they had received a fair hearing from their government. even from a congress reluctant to a

a thousand times worse than my bad language is the underlying issue at stake, that we had a cabinet officey melted. boris johnson's judgment caused anger today. he was obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going, wrote patrick vallance, the government's then scientific advisor. it showed mrjohnson was sociopathic, some of those representing the bereaved said. the overriding impression of what we are seeing here is one of dysfunction — claims of a shambles at the heart of government atjust the moment government was more important to more people than it had been for decades and decades. borisjohnson has offered no comment on what's been said today. the other man taking questions today was lee cain. he the other man taking questions today was lee cain-— was lee cain. he reckons his former boss deserved _ was lee cain. he reckons his former boss deserved that _ was lee cain. he reckons his former boss deserved that mike _ was lee cain. he reckons his former boss deserved that mike gathered. l boss deserved that mike gathered. wil

high government officials, including cabinet officers, to work out solutions and hear their problems. >> on june 19th, or than 50,000 people gathered between the washington and lincoln monuments for a nine-hour peaceful demonstration of solidarity with the nations poor. recaps to an event of the poor people's campaign that had begun two months before. but, even as the voices of leaders spoke nonviolence and restraint to discovery, seeds of discontent were taking root in the camp, itself. tensions and discourse continued, until, after many arrests and increasing violence, it was finally decided by government officials, to not extend for a second time the permit sanctioning resurrection city. on june 24th, fire departments and columbia police began dismantling the huts and lien tears. when they left, the temperatures have not achieved their immediate goals, but they had received a hearing from their government, even from a congress reluctant to appropriate additional funding to poverty programs, to whom they had addressed their major demands. at a news conference on june 26th, the presi

high government officials including cabinet officers held meetings with the demonstrators to listen to their grievances and try to work out solutions to many of their problems. here very means more than 50,000 people gathered between the washington and lincoln monuments for a nine hour peaceful demonstration of solidarity with the nation's poor. it was a capstone event of the poor people's campaign begun two months before to follow the absolute direction than the directives of the march but even as the voices of reasons spoke non-violence and restraint to this gathering seeds of discontent were taking root in the camp itself. tensions and discord continued until after many arrests and increasing violence it was finally decided by government officials to not extend for a second time the permit sanctioning resurrection city. on june 24th park and district of columbia police began dismantling the wooden huts and lean twos. when they left the demonstrators had not achieved their immediate goals. but they had received a fair hearing from their government. even from a congress reluctant to a

there is a standard set of protocols which are actually cabinet office protocols for dealing with crisissis we were confronted with. lines from a diary kept by the chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance, were read out, including calling mrjohnson "weak and indecisive". in the face of a viral pandemic, if those views are right, that was a deeply unfortunate position to be in, was it not? er, yes. so what about the e—mail sent by mr reynolds inviting colleagues to drinks in the garden at number ten? i would first like to say how deeply sorry i am for my part in those events and for the e—mail message which went out that day. whatsapp messages were also shown. the head of the civil service, simon case, said of mrjohnson, "i'm at the end of my tether, he changes strategic direction every day." "it has to stop." "government isn't actually that hard, but this guy is making it impossible." and from the downing street aide dominic cummings, "totally agree, and he's careering around on whatsapp as usual, creating chaos and undermining everybody." another official, imran shafi, was asked a

as i say, there is a standard set of protocols which are actually cabinet office protocols dealing withto deal with the crisis we were confronted with. quotes from a diary kept by the chief scientific adviser sir patrick vallance were read to the inquiry, including a damning judgment on boris johnson. "we have a weak and indecisive prime minister." in the face of a viral pandemic, if those views are right, that was a deeply unfortunate position to be in, was it not? er, yes. so what about the e—mail sent by mr reynolds inviting colleagues to drinks in the garden at number ten? i would first like to say how deeply sorry i am for my part in those events and for the e—mail message which went out that day. later, anotherformer downing street aide, imran shafi, was asked about a note he had taken about a meeting between mrjohnson and the chancellor rishi sunak just before lockdown. "destroy the economy for people who will die anyway soon." mr shafi, who said those words? i can't say for sure, i think it was the former prime minister. later this week the inquiry will hear from lord stevens wh

a thousand times worse than my bad language is the underlying issue at stake, that we had a cabinet offices judgment caused anger today. he was obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going, wrote patrick vallance, the government's then scientific advisor. it showed mrjohnson was sociopathic, some of those representing the bereaved said. also taking questions today, lee cain, borisjohnson�*s man in charge of communications. he reckons his former boss dithered and wasn't suited to leadership in a pandemic. what will probably be clear in covid, it was the wrong crisis for this prime minister's skill set. which is different, i think, from not potentially being up to the job of being prime minister. and what about why it took ten days from agreeing to a first lockdown to actually announcing it? i think it is longer than you would like but it's importantjust to emphasise the amount of things that had to be done and the amount of people we had to take with us to deliver a nationwide lockdown. the overriding impression of what we are

the prime minister has apparently updated the cabinet office on the uk's response to the situation inthe prime minister updated the cabinet on the uk government's response to the terrible terror attacks on israel, he underscored the abhorrence of hamas's targeting of civilians and said the uk will continue to stand with israel and respect their right to self and said the uk will play its part to help alleviate the unfolding humanitarian crisis, recognising that hamas is actively seeking to endanger palestinian civilians and goes on to say the prime minister added that hamas were responsible for the murder and abduction of british nationals. meanwhile the foreign secretary outlined the sport the uk is providing including £10 million of aid announced to the occupied palestinian territories and continues to work closely with partners in the region. the cabinet has also recognised that many in the uk will have been deeply and directly affected by events in israel and gaza and agreed the vital importance of the government continuing to take every step possible to provide reassurance to the

the role is to enable the flow of information from the department of from the cabinet office or fromhases in the pandemic, but a lot of what i was doing in the crisis phase is making sure that the private secretaries are structured and able to pick up the various strands of activity coming out of meetings, to drive that through the system and to bring it back to the prime minister and two others for meetings. prime minister and two others for meetinus. . ,, . . , . meetings. imran shafi was a private secretary and _ meetings. imran shafi was a private secretary and you — meetings. imran shafi was a private secretary and you were _ meetings. imran shafi was a private secretary and you were his - meetings. imran shafi was a private secretary and you were his line - secretary and you were his line manager _ secretary and you were his line manager he _ secretary and you were his line manager he of— secretary and you were his line manager. he of course - secretary and you were his line manager. he of course gave i manager. he of course gave his advice — manager. he of course gave his advi

a thousand times worse than my bad language is the underlying issue at stake, that we had a cabinet officeboris johnson's judgment caused anger today, he was obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going, wrote sir patrick vallance. it showed mrjohnson was sociopathic, some of those representing the bereaved said. the overriding impression of what we are seeing here is one of dysfunction. claims of a shambles at the heart of government atjust the moment government was more important to more people than it had been for decades and decades. the other man taking questions today was lee cain, borisjohnson's man in charge of communications. he reckons his former boss dithered and wasn't suited to leadership in a pandemic. it was the wrong crisis for this prime minister's skill set. which is different, i think, from not potentially being up to the job of being prime minister. and what about why it took ten days from agreeing to a first lockdown to actually announcing it? i think it is longer than you would like but it's importantjust

a thousand times worse than my bad language is the underlying issue at stake, that we had a cabinet officeed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going, wrote patrick vallance, the government's then scientific advisor. it showed mrjohnson was "sociopathic", some of those representing the bereaved said. the overriding impression of what we are seeing here is one of dysfunction. claims of a shambles at the heart of government, atjust the moment government was more important to more people than it had been for decades and decades. the other man taking questions today was lee cain, borisjohnson�*s man in charge of communications. he reckons his former boss dithered and wasn't suited to leadership in a pandemic. what will probably be clear in covid, it was the wrong crisis for this prime minister's skill set. which is different, i think, from not potentially being up to the job of being prime minister. and what about why it took ten days from agreeing to a first lockdown to actually announcing it? i think it is longer than you would like,

he said, the cabinet office failed to get on top of the problem, the government machine was not properlyt sent any e—mails or other correspondence about the discussions in government about the pandemic. it is up to this inquiry to decide how prepared are otherwise the government was, but the picture that has been painted this morning is not a comfortable one at all. hick. a comfortable one at all. nick, thank you _ a comfortable one at all. nick, thank you very _ a comfortable one at all. nick, thank you very much. - the postmortem of friends star matthew perry has so far been inconclusive on the cause of death while officials await the results of toxicology tests. the actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his house on saturday — according to the la times and tmz, which first reported he had died. lizo mzimba reports. since the news about matthew perry broke in the early hours of sunday morning, investigations into his death had been under way, trying to discover the exact events at his home in the pacific palisades region of los angeles. a postmortem examination was carried out y

, the inquiry cabinet office, the inquiry site. >> mr cummings the inquiry heard that mr cummingsabinet office was totally behind pace and had no plan. >> he served as boris johnson's chief adviser until he was forced to quit in 2020 for breaking lockdown rules . lee breaking lockdown rules. lee cain, who was director of communications , spoke of a lack communications, spoke of a lack of leadership and said mr johnson should have done more dunng johnson should have done more during the pandemic's early phase and some breaking news the government has called off plans to close train ticket offices as the transport secretary asked train operators a short time ago to withdraw the controversial proposal to shut offices in england . a public consultation england. a public consultation launched to gauge public opinion on the closures received the largest ever response , with the largest ever response, with the rmt union, saying most people oppose the closures . mark harper oppose the closures. mark harper says the proposals didn't meet the high threshold of serving rail passengers . the

he inquiry i think the he told the inquiry i think the real challenge for the cabinet office at thise view, is that it didn't have the plans processes in to plans and processes in place to move the stage move from the early stage through to the crisis stage and manage it in way, a normal manage it in a way, a normal crisis would be. he also said that if right plans are not that if the right plans are not in place once in a in place for a once in a generation crisis, the machinery starts very, very starts to find it very, very difficult to function. he also said that in hindsight, ministers should have been far more vigorously looking at testing pandemic planning. testing out pandemic planning. and as you said today , we will and as you said today, we will also hear this afternoon from imran sharif, another private secretary to boris johnson, as well as lee cain, the former director of communications . director of communications. >> okay, lisa hartle, there for us.thank >> okay, lisa hartle, there for us. thank you very, very much . us. thank you very, very much. it's going to be an i