that it _ stuff to the claim from chris whitty that it didn't— stuff to the claim from chris whittying to. that it didn't warrant bringing to the attention— that it didn't warrant bringing to the attention of— that it didn't warrant bringing to the attention of number- that it didn't warrant bringing to the attention of number 10, i that it didn't warrant bringing toj the attention of number 10, the evidence — the attention of number 10, the evidence heard _ the attention of number 10, the evidence heard at _ the attention of number 10, the evidence heard at the _ the attention of number 10, the evidence heard at the covid i the attention of number 10, the i evidence heard at the covid inquiry has confirmed _ evidence heard at the covid inquiry has confirmed that _ evidence heard at the covid inquiry has confirmed that long _ evidence heard at the covid inquiry has confirmed that long covid i evidence heard at the covid inquiry has confirmed that long covid hasi has confirmed that long covid has been _ has confirmed that long covid has been sidelined, _ has confirmed that long covid

yes, that is exactly right. l the final weekend of the 21st and 22nd of march so chris whitty producearch called coronavirus, summary of strategic and tactical approach to the epidemic, and that was presented to you at occur with strategy meeting on the 22nd. the lockdown was ordered on the 23rd. it followed a meeting of cobra and strategy ministerial group meeting. the material put before you, mrjohnson, over the weekend shows that whilst there were some positive trends, the level of compliance by the population in relation to the measures which had previously been imposed on the 16th and 20th of march failed to reach the necessary 75% required to have some degree of certainty that the r number could be brought below one. is that a fair summary?— brought below one. is that a fair summa ? . , , , summary? that is completely right, i remember patrick _ summary? that is completely right, i remember patrick making _ summary? that is completely right, i remember patrick making point - summary? that is completely right, i | remember patrick making point about there being too much social mi

whether it is chris whitty or patrick vallance saying all the things i havejust whitty or patrick vallancet think you would find those types of, that type of communication forming part of the message early on in the pandemic. that is probably fair to say. mi that is probably fair to say. all ri . ht, that is probably fair to say. all right, 236536 page one, an e—mail your principal private secretary elizabeth perryman, dated the 6th of june 2020. the subject, prime minister, is read out, friday baylor, is that short hand for the meetings you had bilaterally with the prime minister? —— friday bilateral. yes. non—pharmaceutical intervention easements, no action, just for information only. your principal private secretary says, following the inconclusive strategy meeting, the prime minister, and chancellor met and discussed the plan for easements of mpis on friday. no other minister included, it shows the strength of the chancellor's voice in these discussions. did you see this e—mail after the event, did you see the readout? ., ., �* , , , readout? no, iwouldn't typically see these readouts.

at the same time, your chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, at a covid meeting on the 22nd top end of the risk boundary. so you knew that there was an element of risk in this. there had to be a degree of epidemiological gamble. that is logical and fair. i do epidemiological gamble. that is logical and fair.— logical and fair. i do not think that i logical and fair. i do not think that l thought _ logical and fair. i do not think that l thought that _ logical and fair. i do not think that l thought that that - logical and fair. i do not think. that i thought that that scheme logical and fair. i do not think- that i thought that that scheme in itself_ that i thought that that scheme in itself was — that i thought that that scheme in itself was a particular gamble at the time — itself was a particular gamble at the time. it certainly wasn't presented to me as such. nor am i confident— presented to me as such. nor am i confident that there is very substantial evidence that it did indeed — substantial evidence that it did indeed add to the r. although i differ— indeed add to the

borisjohnson has previously insisted that medical experts like sir patrick vallance and sir chris whittyare saying you're not sure whether it was discussed with them, and you are surprised that it wasn't? the reason i said that in my statement is because i, frankly, assumed that it must have been discussed with them. and i... i'm perplexed. in light of your views, secretly held about people dying, having reached their time anyway... mrjohnson looked irritated when he was read extracts from sir patrick vallance's diary, suggesting he advocated "letting the virus rip". frankly, it does not do justice to what we did, ourthoughts, ourfeelings, my thoughts, my feelings, to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country. questioning then turned to rule breaking. first, his chief adviser, dominic cummings' visit to barnard castle. it was obviously damaging. it was a bad moment. and i won't, you know, pretend otherwise. and what about the parties in downing street, which led to more than 100 fines, including ones for the former and current prime ministers? he apologised ag

do you acknowledge that the evidence from professors chris whitty, sir patrick balance, sirjonathan vanas highly likely to increase transmission and whilst of course it's a policy matter over which they wouldn't have had the whip hand, it was an issue on which they would have expected to be consulted given the behavioural aspect of the scheme, the bringing together of more people from different households. do you acknowledge that? but different households. do you acknowledge that? but they've not said that to me. _ acknowledge that? but they've not said that to me. they _ acknowledge that? but they've not said that to me. they had - acknowledge that? but they've not said that to me. they had ample . said that to me. they had ample opportunity to raise those concerns between the announcement of the scheme and its implementation and none of them chose to do so in any forum they were in. all of them have said on the record as the evidence conclusively demonstrates that this was in no way responsible for a second wave which was predicted by the cmo and csa as early as my first conversation

the inquiry has put this proposition to sir chris whittyl this proposition to sir chris whitty and alsomr hancock. did you act because in effect you are told by the chief medical officer in the government's chief scientific adviser that the nature of the exponential growth was such that regardless of the actual number of nhs places, regardless of any data that might indicate that the nhs would be overwhelmed, or when it would be overwhelmed, or when it would occur, and regardless of the number of additional deaths that would be because if you didn't at, the nature of the exponential growth was such that huge numbers of additional deaths were inevitable at some point and you simply couldn't gamble that they would not eventually occur. is that the nub of it? i eventually occur. is that the nub of it? ., ., 4' eventually occur. is that the nub of it? c, ., ~ , eventually occur. is that the nub of it? y, c, _ eventually occur. is that the nub of it? y, c, it? i took very seriously and listened very _ it? i took very seriously and listened very hard _ it? i took very seriously and listened v

i think chris whitty on about the 19th was clear that the decisions we had made having closed schoolsnce, should be sufficient, that turned out not to be the case and additional measures were implemented. i don't remember the specific analysis we were shown about the nhs being overwhelmed, i don't think i would have been in any position to challenge it, it was coming from the nhs at that moment. but how much of the debate on that monday revolves around an understanding of what the impact on the nhs might be? the reason i ask so that you can understand the genesis of the question, prime minister, is that there was a great deal of information about beds and icu beds and so on and how many would be needed and whether they would be needed and whether they would be needed and whether they would be overwhelmed and so on. but there was also a fair amount of information from the nhs as to what could be done by way of additional search capacity, whether the nhs would survive, whether it could survive, and given that ultimately the decision to lockdown rested at least capacity —— in part on wha

borisjohnson has previously insisted that medical experts like sir patrick vallance and sir chris whittye idea, something they've denied. but now, today, you're saying you're not sure whether it was discussed with them, and you're surprised that it wasn't? the reason i said that in my statement is because i, frankly, assumed that it must have been discussed with them. and i... i'm perplexed. in light of your views, secretly held, about people dying, having reached their time anyway... mrjohnson looked irritated when he was read extracts from sir patrick vallance's diary, suggesting he advocated "letting the virus rip". frankly, it does not do justice to what we did, ourthoughts, ourfeelings, my thoughts, my feelings, to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country. questioning then turned to rule breaking. first, his chief adviser, dominic cummings' visit to barnard castle. it was obviously damaging. it was a bad moment. and i won't, you know, pretend otherwise. and what about the parties in downing street, which led to more than 100 fines, including ones for the

the saturday, "the prime minister asked reasonable questions, including why aren't hancock, chris whitty being there. there was a - that discussion? i remember them being there. there was a meeting | that discussion? i remember them i being there. there was a meeting and then another— being there. there was a meeting and then another meeting _ being there. there was a meeting and then another meeting and _ being there. there was a meeting and then another meeting and a _ being there. there was a meeting andj then another meeting and a follow-up then another meeting and a follow—up meeting with yourself and mr cummings and then a second follower meeting and then another meeting. we had a lot of meetings that day. at one of them, mr cummings says he turned to him and said, why aren't hancock, witty and valance telling me this. do you recall that debate? i don't recall it. but what idon't recall it. but what certainty— i don't recall it. but what certainly is possible is that i was ailudingm — certainly is possible is that i was aiiudingm i_ certainly is possible is that i was alluding... i

whitty and reynolds, shaffi, mr whitty and a of others .. then a follow up meeting then a second follow up meeting and then another meeting. you had meetings that day. had a lot of meetings that day. yeah one of them. mr cummings, says you turn to him and said, why aren't hancock whitty vallance telling me this? do you recall that debate? >> i think i don't recall it, but what certainly possible is that i was alluding to the i was i was looking with no dis may at what was happening, dismay about what was happening, dismay about what we were going to have to do. and reflecting that this was not the message i i'm conjecturing this is not the message that i've been having from them in the past few days. you don't recall? i don't recall saying that . saying that. >> right. let's let's have a >> all right. let's let's have a quick look at the one of the papers, the briefing on the covid response that was put before you on the saturday 183889. >> this is the document which sets out the current plan on and the proposed alternative plan on briefing

expected that borisjohnson will point the finger of blame at the chief medical 0fficer sir chris whittyhas been reported that he might be preparing to confess to some government complacency. however he goes in front of the inquiry with a besmirched personal record of breaking lockdown rules, and being found to have repeatedly lied to parliament about having done so. tonight we examine whatjeopardy borisjohnson will face tomorrow. here's sima. a reminder of what those early days of the pandemic were like. in italy in march 2020, some of the morgues were full to the brim as the virus rapidly spread in parts of the country. while here around the same time, cheltenham festival took place with tens of thousands of people in attendance every day. several days later came the first full lockdown in england. the former prime minister has studied thousands of pages of evidence before he faces his grilling in front of the public glare. one of the key questions he s likely to be asked is, did he act soon enough? so far we ve heard the former deputy cabinet minister helen macnamara say that downing

we ve heard chris whitty — the chief medical officer at the time — called it "eat out to help out theel sensible him. 0ne adviser even referred to rishi sunak as dr death. there has been a study into this. the university of warwick thinks it added around one in six cases — that's pretty significant. but not everyone is convinced. other experts have said the scheme is unlikely to have had a big impact on how winter 2020 played out. and have a look at this — a comparison with other european countries. have a look at france and spain, big increases there, bigger than the uk. france and spain didn't have eat out to help 0ut. there's also the economic argument we've heard from rishi sunak. hospitality was struggling — you had to balance economic priorities over summer with health needs. so it's complicated. the answer is quite nuanced in truth. but two things that are tricky for the prime minister. 0ne — government experts have said they weren't consulted. two — a number of the same experts have concluded the scheme probably wasn't a good idea. take this from former chief scientific advise

borisjohnson has previously insisted that medical experts like sir patrick vallance and sir chris whittyidea, something they've denied. but now, today, you're saying you're not sure whether it was discussed with them, and you're surprised that it wasn't? the reason i said that in my statement is because i, frankly, assumed that it must have been discussed with them. and i... i'm perplexed. in light of your views, secretly held, about people dying, having reached their time anyway... mrjohnson looked irritated when he was read extracts from sir patrick vallance's diary, suggesting he advocated "letting the virus rip". frankly, it does not do justice to what we did, ourthoughts, ourfeelings, my thoughts, my feelings, to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country. questioning then turned to rule breaking. first, his chief adviser, dominic cummings' visit to barnard castle. it was obviously damaging. it was a bad moment. and i won't, you know, pretend otherwise. and what about the parties in downing street, which led to more than 100 fines, including ones for the f

firstly from chris whitty, the chief medical officer for england at the time this is what he supposedlyn there was his deputyjonathan van—tam who has already given evidence and he said the scheme didn't feel very sensible to me. and then there's this one, from angela maclean, who apparently called rishi sunak doctor death over all his support for easing restrictions. one thing to bear in mind when we hear from rishi sunak today is the economy was in a difficult place. i think what he will argue as ministers were desperate to try and get hospitality back on its feet but the question he will face just after 10am is whether the scheme he came up 10am is whether the scheme he came up with, eat out to help out was a goodidea up with, eat out to help out was a good idea and whether it contributed to the virus spreading. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. you're live with bbc news. poland s prime minister will present his proposed cabinet to parliament for a vote of confidence today. but, its expected to fail. that would clear the way for a pro—eu coalition led by donald tus

chris whitty raised the concern about the potential of some kind of fatigue syndrome which happens withmbers of my family were affected by long covid including my mother who still attends a clinic so this was very close to my heart. to attends a clinic so this was very close to my heart.— attends a clinic so this was very close to my heart. to what extent when ou close to my heart. to what extent when you and _ close to my heart. to what extent when you and your _ close to my heart. to what extent when you and your colleagues - close to my heart. to what extent - when you and your colleagues became aware of long—term consequences of infection did that understanding feed its way into the debate about the mechanics of non—pharmaceutical interventions and then subsequently the relaxation of restrictions? what role and to what extent did the issue of long covid play out in the debate about the mechanics? it matters because it makes the virus even worse, it makes the impact of the virus even worse. and so reinforce the arguments that we were making of course the best way to avoid long covid

official who attended sage provided a readout which referred to the fact that the cmo professor chris whittyinning ofjuly, was at the riskier end of the spectrum and therefore had the potential to increase r above one? do you recall that warning being related to you all the treasury at the end ofjune? i don't, what i do recall though, i perhaps should have started with this, this may plan, two things about it. one that it was conditional, there were various tests that were set out to unlock each stage and indeed it was delayed at one point, which i think shows the fax ability of the decision—making and the responsiveness to the deacon sense. yes stage two was delayed until the 15th from the first.— 15th from the first. yes, and the second most — 15th from the first. yes, and the second most important - 15th from the first. yes, and the second most important thing . 15th from the first. yes, and the second most important thing to | 15th from the first. yes, and the . second most important thing to say is the main plan was developed for scientific and epidemiological input and modelled at sage

he's just got the information has the wrong information he has because whitty gave because chris whittyummer of 2020 made abundantly 2020 when he made it abundantly clear the clear in that briefing that the death rate for people with covid was between , he said the was between, he said at the time, between nought point three and it was somewhere in and 0.7, it was somewhere in between and that the average age of people dying was 82, which was above the, the life expectancy in the uk. >> they knew that in the summer of 2020 this wasn't stuff that's only just been found out recently. he gave a briefing to mps that effect back then. so mps to that effect back then. so how on earth you could justify a blanket lockdown knowing that information and then a second . information and then a second. >> and then another one and then a second. >> completely unacceptable >> it's completely unacceptable what that what happened. and i think that lockdown down history lockdown will go down in history as the worst piece of public policy ever to be inflicted on this country. >> i agree. i agree. anyway, t

now we know that at the time the chief medical officer, chris whitty , medical officer, chris whitty,to help out the virus . eat out to help out the virus. angela mclean . she's now the angela mclean. she's now the uk's chief scientific adviser. she branded rishi sunak dr. death and now since the pandemic itself , there's been one itself, there's been one scientific study that has found that areas with a higher take up of this scheme did in the subsequent weeks see an increase in people testing positive for covid and then a decrease once the scheme actually ended . the scheme actually ended. although there is much debate about the validity and significance of that study. now, the kc asked the prime minister if the scheme was so good, so safe, so successful, why was it actually not extended and at a later date and mr sunak said it was designed just purely to get a temporary response . he denied a temporary response. he denied that there were subsequent concerns about the infection rates, and that's despite that former health secretary matt hancock telling the inquiry that he later expr

i thought it was awful the way that it he didn't bother really holding whitty and vallance's feet tos it were because as they both said things that were reasonably sensible and then changed their minds and they went along with the consensus that came down from sage, which was then guided by modelling from tom ferguson and his colleagues. and what came down was only ever the worst case scenario for them to have a fear factor on. so all rational . fear factor on. so all rational. he went out the window. i felt . he went out the window. i felt. >> but we heard from rishi sunak today that actually we were all told that sage had this great consensus and trust the scientists. but said actually scientists. but he said actually he there that consensus he there wasn't that consensus within sage. you can sort of understand that. mean, this understand that. i mean, this thing fast moving. they thing was very fast moving. they were grappling with the were all grappling with it. the advice changing, but they advice was changing, but they didn't us the truth on didn't tell us the truth on that, di

i thought it was awful the way that it he didn't bother really holding whitty and vallance's feet tos it were because as they both said things that were reasonably sensible and then changed their minds and they went along with the consensus that came down from sage, which was then guided by modelling from tom ferguson and his colleagues. and what came down was only ever the worst case scenario for them to have a fear factor on. so all rational . fear factor on. so all rational. he went out the window. i felt . he went out the window. i felt. >> but we heard from rishi sunak today that actually we were all told that sage had this great consensus and trust the scientists. but said actually scientists. but he said actually he there that consensus he there wasn't that consensus within sage. you can sort of understand that. mean, this understand that. i mean, this thing fast moving. they thing was very fast moving. they were grappling with the were all grappling with it. the advice changing, but they advice was changing, but they didn't us the truth on didn't tell us the truth on that, di

we heard from professor sir chris whitty last week, he said he felt that advice was probably wrong.essarily massive possibility the virus would spread because of those mass gatherings, but the message it sent out. we heard from borisjohnson today kind of agreeing with that. it is the mixed messaging that made the government not seem like it was taking it seriously enough. we are joined now by a couple of people... just to be clear, his argument was, if you don't allow this mass gatherings to go ahead, what will happen is people will collect in other environments which will be more dangerous?— other environments which will be more dangerous? absolutely right. it seaks to more dangerous? absolutely right. it speaks to the — more dangerous? absolutely right. it speaks to the broader _ more dangerous? absolutely right. it speaks to the broader point - more dangerous? absolutely right. it speaks to the broader point he - more dangerous? absolutely right. it speaks to the broader point he has i speaks to the broader point he has been making this afternoon. it wasn't as straightforward as

former chief scientific adviser patrick vallance, chief medical officer chris whitty and his deputy jonathanld the inquiry that we ought to have locked down earlier than we did in march 2020 and these claims were not properly scrutinised. as know from scrutinised. as we know from today's testimony, as well as other claims in the past that bofis other claims in the past that boris at heart a lockdown other claims in the past that boris andt heart a lockdown other claims in the past that boris and those: a lockdown other claims in the past that boris and those instincts»wn other claims in the past that boris and those instincts were sceptic and those instincts were vindicated when he resisted the omicron lockdown . and they have omicron lockdown. and they have been vindicated by the swedish data. so where will it go from here? well, i'm joined by the journalist and broadcaster matthew stadlen. matthew thank you coming in. it does seem you for coming in. it does seem as if the inquiry just wants to look at whether we should have locked down sooner and harder rather looking at whether rather than

hoping for a better outcome, had realised that the reality of the scenario, identified by sir chris whittymeeting of not at, and advance in receipt of you by the civil contingencies paper. it and advance in receipt of you by the civil contingencies paper.— civil contingencies paper. it does look as though _ civil contingencies paper. it does look as though that _ civil contingencies paper. it does look as though that meeting i civil contingencies paper. it does i look as though that meeting informed catherine hammond's paper and perhaps was the reason why i got a meeting i did, but i couldn't swear to that. i meeting i did, but i couldn't swear to that. ., �* meeting i did, but i couldn't swear to that. . �* meeting i did, but i couldn't swear tothat. . �* meeting i did, but i couldn't swear tothat. . ., to that. i haven't asked you that, but it may _ to that. i haven't asked you that, but it may well _ to that. i haven't asked you that, but it may well be _ to that. i haven't asked you that, but it may well be that _ to that. i haven't asked you that, but it may well be that the i to that

and it's been kind of queried by professor whitty and sir patrick, who went, meanwhile, you got a billionnt saying don't do this, don't do this. >> oh, did they say a billion people? really? exactly >> that's all your statistics. nobody more. >> lewis maths said that. but this woman said this. whatever it is, this one of the people said it caused it caused people to die because the flu came back. okay, right. but the truth is , it came back because it's is, it came back because it's not covid. it was nothing . it's not covid. it was nothing. it's the flu. i just want to say, do not listen to a word. >> lewis say finally in this section, it's sunday times with the news. lewis that some people will never, ever get to leave school. >> yeah, this is ridiculous. >> yeah, this is ridiculous. >> it's a new apprenticeships will put teen teenage teachers in the classroom and it's this organisation called team teach first. i know exactly what the organisation is just so disgusted by. >> look at the school first. no i'm against teaching, but i know this is one of those organisations where they're ma

and it's been kind of queried by professor whitty and sir patrick, who went, meanwhile, you got a billioning don't do this, don't do this. >> oh, did they say a billion people? really? exactly >> that's all your statistics. nobody more. >> lewis maths said that. but this woman said this. whatever it is, this one of the people said it caused it caused people to die because the flu came back. okay, right. but the truth is , it came back because it's is, it came back because it's not covid. it was nothing . it's not covid. it was nothing. it's the flu. i just want to say, do not listen to a word. >> lewis say finally in this section, it's sunday times with the news. lewis that some people will never, ever get to leave school. >> yeah, this is ridiculous. >> yeah, this is ridiculous. >> it's a new apprenticeships will put teen teenage teachers in the classroom and it's this organisation called team teach first. i know exactly what the organisation is just so disgusted by. >> look at the school first. no i'm against teaching, but i know this is one of those organisations where they're making t

we know that at the time chief medical officer sir chris whitty had branded the policy eat out to helphe virus. angela mclean , who's now the uk's chief mclean, who's now the uk's chief science adviser, also branded rishi sunak as dr. death at the time as well . of course, rishi time as well. of course, rishi sunak will be fighting back. he'll be fighting his corner dunng he'll be fighting his corner during this day of evidence . during this day of evidence. he'll be saying that scientists, including independent advisers from sage , were given too much from sage, were given too much sway over over policy decisions dunng sway over over policy decisions during the pandemic. he's going to try and paint himself as a lone voice, somebody who was often made to feel, in his words , incredibly uncomfortable at meetings he's described in the past how many of his concerns that he raised were met with silence and he was effectively banned from discussing the trade offs. so a full day of evidence here from rishi sunak. >> all right . that's ray >> all right. that's ray addison. thanks for that, ra

was proved correct, _ prophecy by chris whitty was proved correct, when he said that the uk would _f timing and magnitude, excess mortality in the united kingdom during the pandemic exceeded that of most comparable western european countries. it went on, "the uk also had the highest excess mortality rate compared with the baseline among people under 65 in western european countries such as france, belgium and sweden. i'm going to move on but... i will put it to you once more that this gold standard of data available does not support what you see in your statement, does it? i support what you see in your statement, does it?- support what you see in your statement, does it? ithink with ireat statement, does it? ithink with great respect. _ statement, does it? ithink with great respect. l _ statement, does it? ithink with great respect, i think— statement, does it? ithink with great respect, i think that - great respect, i think that actually, it does and what i was responding to in my, if you look at the sit _ responding to in my, if you look at the sit document, the lancet study, the

it actually whitty, it was actually chris whitty, perhaps to delay perhaps that told him to delay thatpopping out. >> he's >> he's deliberately he's got all advice, his pr all his press advice, his pr advisers an copy of his advisers, an advance copy of his testimony , handling it all. it's testimony, handling it all. it's a pr operation. been buried a pr operation. it's been buried for six months. >> well thank you very >> right. well thank you very much indeed. >> exciting one to watch. >> an exciting one to watch. >> an exciting one to watch. >> roger bolton, mike parry, stay martin daubney. >> roger bolton, mike parry, stay be martin daubney. >> roger bolton, mike parry, stay be a martin daubney. >> roger bolton, mike parry, stay be a good martin daubney. >> roger bolton, mike parry, stay be a good one. n daubney. it'll be a good one. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar for sponsors of whether on . gb news. >> hello, welcome to your latest gb news weather update from the met office. it'll be a cold and frosty night for many areas tonight as the clear weather. the north of england

eat whitty, branded the policy eat out to help out the virus as rishi sunak was dubbed dr.s pointing out that former health secretary matt hancock says he personally contacted the treasury to his express his concerns . at the express his concerns. at the time, rishi denying ever being informed of those concerns. now of course, since the pandemic itself khalife, we know that there's been one scientific study which has found that those areas across the uk with a higher take up of the eat out to help out scheme did see a small rise or a rise in the number of people testing positive and then that dropped off within a couple of of scheme ending of weeks of the scheme ending the significance of that is still very much in debate. it's only one study and rishi saying today in the inquiry that he did believe and he still does believe and he still does believe that it was the right thing to do. now, of course , thing to do. now, of course, he's saying that through the scheme he was able to help protect up to 2 million jobs and some of those people working in hospitality very vulnerab

firstly, chris whitty, the chief medical officer for england at the time.uted to the virus sreadina. ., ,, , . spreading. thank you very much indeed, thank _ spreading. thank you very much indeed, thank you _ spreading. thank you very much indeed, thank you for _ spreading. thank you very much indeed, thank you for running i indeed, thank you for running through those statistics. there will be full coverage of rishi sunak giving evidence to the covid inquiry across the bbc today. the royal mail is gearing up for its busiest week of the year. ben's at a parcel "super hub", which is near daventry, to see how they're getting on. is everything on track? it certainly seems to be. these are just a couple of the thousands, tens of thousands of parcels that they process every day here at this parcel super hub near daventry in the midlands. it is the most busy time of the year for royal mail. this week they expect to handle something like double the number they normally do, of parcels and letters. we send 150 million christmas cards every year and if you have yet to

the scientists as well, chris whitty, patrick vallance , they whitty, patrick vallance, they have beenetty critical of his understanding of the severity of the pandemic in those early days. so yeah, he's going to have to come out fighting to try to put across his side of the argument because there's no doubt that his already pretty damaged reputation come for damaged reputation has come for in of a battering so far in a bit of a battering so far in a bit of a battering so far in the inquiry. >> it should be interesting, given , you know, the barrister given, you know, the barrister will go through line by line, painstakingly in a way that will really sort of turn the screw, if you like , on the former prime if you like, on the former prime minister. you know , it's very minister. you know, it's very difficult to pin him down sometimes. i think that's fair to say. as one of his notorious traits. yes. but this barrister will absolutely be, you know, putting him on the spot over the next couple of days. >> absolutely. he's going to be have to be right across the detail, all of his evidenc

chris radiator chris whitty's radiator metaphorically for last metaphorically for the last however long >> if you had if cop28 >> i think if you had if cop28 meant countries such as meant that countries such as like some of the middle eastern countries have pretty countries that have a pretty staggering footprint, staggering carbon footprint, sit down from down across the table from somebody they're in somebody and because they're in the room, actually the same room, you can actually make them behave better in future. does offset everybody future. it does offset everybody got to there, but got a plane to get there, but also the optics are terrible and really is excuse for really there is no excuse for flying private or first class. >> no, very quickly because you you a of private you are you a fan of the private jet? wait, you need a private jet? wait, do you need a private jet? wait, do you need a private jet or do you go first class? >> i've never been on >> sadly, i've never been on a private but i think the private jet, but i think the point is, you know, state control of transport

it was told that by chris whitty, quite unbelievably.ctually, as the pandemic wore on, it was grounded and not saw, not not to opine on not not asked to opine on matters further appalled listening to your answers, it sounds to me as if you're using the pandemic and the inquiry as a means of parroting boris johnson . johnson. >> but do you not see that what we really want to do is to get at the truth and the truth may be that boris was sometimes right and sometimes wrong, but it may well be that the machine that was supporting him was wrong and again, either in wrong again and again, either in the advice that it gave him or in the that it arrived at in the way that it arrived at decisions other decisions in other words, considering things, but not others. >> but that may well be true, and i hope the inquiry looks at all aspects of this the economics, the economics too. and tomorrow could be an interesting day in the sense that rishi sunak may well be asked or put forward. his arguments on the economic damage versus, say , saving lives, if

to quote chris whitty, first slide please.ore than half of the country feel worse off than they did a year ago 54% to be precise. and when asked if it's time for a change in westminster , 66% of you turn in westminster, 66% of you turn to agree or strongly agree. interesting there though , that interesting there though, that just 81% of labour voters think it's just 81% of labour voters think wsfime just 81% of labour voters think it's time for a change. what's happened to the rest of them? only 74% of lib dems as well . only 74% of lib dems as well. let's get into what the top priorities are for voters at the next election . so first, it's next election. so first, it's the cost of living crisis. the money in your pocket. second, it's improving the national health service record backlogs there strikes that needs sorting , doesn't it? then we've got stopping the boats that came in at 17, but among tory 2019 voters, that's at 35, which is their highest priority. so tories who voted in the last round think stopping the boats is th

if you look at what chris whitty and patrick vallance and jonathan van—tam said at the time of that wholet were all in favour of, of not locking down. they didn't, they didn't take that view. now it's the received wisdom that , you the received wisdom that, you know, we should have locked down earlier and so on that that would have made a massive difference. and the only purpose of that wisdom is to distract attention from what happened with what with care homes, with what happened with masks, with what happened with masks, with what happened civil rights. happened with civil rights. >> conspiracy >> that's a bit conspiracy theory, no no. theory, isn't it? no no. >> it's because it's the purpose of the inquiry. >> well, it's a distractors . >> well, it's a distractors. >> well, it's a distractors. >> yes. no, that's the function of it. i'm not saying they dreamt that up, but those are much more important. well, i think important think there's more important things to look at. >> like. no, in terms of the ppe that michelle mone from medford . that michelle mone from medford. but i think th