appearing in front of the inquiry today, professor dame angela mclean, who at the time was the deputyadviser, has criticised a "lack of appreciation that very quick decisions were needed" during the pandemic. she also told the inquiry she was not aware of a pandemic planning exercise called 'operation nimbus', which considered a large number of deaths from flu. i actually hadn't heard about exercise nimbus until i heard ben warner giving evidence to you. so if i had known about exercise nimbus on that day, i would have thought, "oh, well, they've had an exercise on it." it was a flu pandemic exercise, but it is still very, very large number of deaths. so if i had just known that exercise nimbus had happened, i might have been encouraged. actually, if i had known who went to exercise nimbus i might have been a bit discouraged. the people who were present at exercise nimbus were not the secretaries of state, who would be sat around the cabinet table making these decisions. were you concerned that the government had not got a grip on the situation? i was concerned that the people who wer

left the boat in march you were succeeded by danie _ the boat in march you were succeeded by dame angela mcleanry will hear from in due course. . inquiry will hear from in due course-- by _ inquiry will hear from in due course.- by way - inquiry will hear from in due course.- by way of - inquiry will hear from in due course. yes. by way of preliminary matters, course. yes. by way of preliminary matters. can _ course. yes. by way of preliminary matters. can i _ course. yes. by way of preliminary matters, can i ask _ course. yes. by way of preliminary matters, can i ask you _ course. 123 by way of preliminary matters, can i ask you about two further— matters, can i ask you about two further documents beyond your witness — further documents beyond your witness statement, that the first of those _ witness statement, that the first of those is _ witness statement, that the first of those is the technical report. we have _ those is the technical report. we have it _ those is the technical report. we have it on — those is the technical report. we have it on the page now. the first page. _ have it on t

and later in the week, the government's current chief scientific adviser, dame angela mclean, and the. we'll be guided by the science at all times. . and that's why we're following the scientific advice in the way that we are. that mantra was heard again and again as covid spread. whether the government really did follow scientific advice, and how that influenced crucial decisions from facemasks to lockdowns, will now come under intense scrutiny as this inquiry continues. jim reed, bbc news. viewers in the uk can follow the inquiry live on our website. live now to our correspondent ellie price in central london. what can we expect today? sir patrick vallance was a key fixture of the press conferences every night in the uk during the pandemic and he became a bit of a household name and we have heard at the inquiry over the last few weeks plenty from his personal diaries. as the report mentioned he talked about boris johnson being weak and indecisive and he flip—flopped on decisions and described the situation of number ten downing street at war with itself, different factions within to

and later in the week, the government�*s current chief scientific adviser, dame angela mclean, and thed. whether the government really did follow scientific advice, and how that influenced crucial decisions from facemasks to lockdowns, will now come under intense scrutiny as this inquiry continues. jim reed, bbc news. live now to our corrrespondent ellie price for more on the inquiry. what are we likely to hear from patrick vallance which will shed light on how the government handled the pandemic? you light on how the government handled the pandemic?— the pandemic? you heard did not re ort so the pandemic? you heard did not report so much — the pandemic? you heard did not report so much has _ the pandemic? you heard did not report so much has already - the pandemic? you heard did not report so much has already been | the pandemic? you heard did not- report so much has already been made of the diaries from sir patrick which give us a massive insight into what was going on at the time, even if he wrote them not intending anyone to read them. there has been talk of a borisjohnson was like

today, it was the turn of dame angela mclean, the chief scientific adviser, who sat on the scientificrld, in new zealand is not, sweden _ the world, in new zealand is not, sweden is — the world, in new zealand is not, sweden is not. so it's a very different— sweden is not. so it's a very different context, and we also have a liberal— different context, and we also have a liberal tradition that means people — a liberal tradition that means people were reluctant to take a £400 billion— people were reluctant to take a £400 billion decision to close down the economy— billion decision to close down the economy without being really sure. i think what's— economy without being really sure. i think what's frustrating about this inguiry— think what's frustrating about this inquiry is — think what's frustrating about this inquiry is there's been a sense that the scientists were always somehow telling _ the scientists were always somehow telling you some objective truths and the — telling you some objective truths and the politicians were idiots who didn't— and the politicians were idiots who did

dame angela lockdowns. professor dame angela mclean said discussions in september 2020 we assumed that cases would rise due infections flat would avoid creating what she called a panicky situation. she added that harsh lockdowns had to be enforced because they were left to the last possible moment . a to the last possible moment. a eurosceptic could be on track to become the next prime minister of the netherlands . geert of the netherlands. geert wilders is leading talks to form a coalition government after his freedom party caused upset last night. the right wing populist has stoked tensions with promises to freeze immigration and slash payments to the eu . and slash payments to the eu. but despite his euro scepticism , but despite his euro scepticism, he'll have to work with pro—eu parties if he's to form government . this is gb news government. this is gb news across the uk on tv, in your car, on digital radio and on your smart speaker. car, on digital radio and on your smart speaker . just say your smart speaker. just say play your smart speaker. just say play gb news. now it's back to tom and . emily

the covid inquiry is continuing today and the uk's chief scientific advisor, dame angela mclean, willfter england's former deputy chief medical officer, professor sirjonathan van—tam, revealed during wednesday's session that he and his family had been the victim of death threats. ellie price has this report. he became well known during the pandemic because of his memorable metaphors cutting through the science. it's a bit like being 3—0 up in a game and thinking, well, we can't possibly lose this now. but how many times have you seen the other side take it 4—3? i swear by almighty god. but the then deputy chief medical adviser, professorjonathan van—tam, now professor sirjvt, told the inquiry his workload had been horrendous, and so was the abuse. i did not expect my family to be threatened with having their throats cut. i did not expect the police to have to say, will you move out in the middle of the night, in the middle of the evening? will you move out for a few days while we look at this and potentially make some arrests? you know, we didn't move out because of the cat as it happ

and later in the week, the government's current chief scientific adviser, dame angela mclean, and thehe health security agency, damejenny harries. so we will follow the science. we'll be guided by the science at all times. . and that's why we're following the scientific advice in the way that we are. that mantra was heard again and again as covid spread. whether the government really did follow scientific advice, and how that influenced crucial decisions from facemasks to lockdowns, will now come under intense scrutiny as this inquiry continues. jim reed, bbc news. we will be going live to the inquiry and talking to our correspondence later. but first, sarah has more of the news. thirty—one babies who were trapped inside gaza's main al—shifa hospital are now in the south of the territory, and are expected to be moved to egypt today. it comes as the israeli military released footage which — it says — shows a 55 metre—long tunnel, built by hamas, beneath the hospital. our middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. a glimmer of hope. the plight of these premature babies has symboli

then in the afternoon we're going to be hearing from professor dame angela mclean.istry of defence and we heard earlier in this inquiry that in a whatsapp message to another scientist, she dubbed rishi sunak dr. death . that was in the weeks following the 2020 eat out to help out scheme. so three more experts giving their testimony today and it will be very interesting to see particularly what professor sir jonathan van—tam has to say following those comments by his former boss. >> i appreciate that. thank you very much indeed. i don't know why we link via satellite to ray because we could basically open the window and talk to him. that inquiry just takes place across the road. >> so pip there yesterday. hi pip. open the front door. there she is giving our location away now. anyway, we don't know where annie shuttleworth is, but it's somewhere that's bringing us sunshine. let's check in with her with the forecast. >> morning. welcome to your >> good morning. welcome to your latest weather update . latest gb news weather update. with me, annie from the met office. cl