Martin Reynolds ‘deeply sorry’ for organising lockdown-busting BYOB party in No 10 garden – UK Covid inquiry live

Reynolds says he is ‘deeply sorry’ for organising lockdown-busting BYOB drinks do in No 10 garden for staff

Keith asks about the “bring your own booze” event in the No 10 garden in May 2020 that Reynolds organised for No 10 staff. He puts it to him that this was deeply damaging to trust in government.

Reynolds says he is “deeply sorry” for his part in those events and says he would like to apologise unreservedly for what happened. He was “totally wrong” to invite people to the event, he says.

I would first like to say how deeply sorry I am for my part in those events and for the email message, which went out that day.

And I would like to apologise unreservedly to all the families of all those who suffered during Covid for all the distress caused.

But he says news of the event only came out 15 months later, and so that limited the damage to trust in government.

It actually broke into the news about 15 months later. So while I totally accept … I was totally wrong in the way I sent the email around and for the event, I think the impact on public confidence – although obviously now in terms of public confidence, more generally it did have a serious impact – in terms of the pandemic at that time it was less, it had less impact.

Keith says there was another event in June.

Reynolds apologises for that too.

Updated at 10.46 EDT

Key events

In the hearing Keith is asking Shafi about the strategy for dealing with Covid in February and early March 2020, before it started to peak.

Q: Why was all the focus on delaying the peak, and not on stopping the virus getting into the UK?

Shafi says he thinks that at that point there was not sufficient awareness of how much it would overwhelm the NHS.

They have now stopped for a break until 3.30pm.

Simon Case said Johnson was making government ‘impossible’ during Covid because he ‘changes direction every day’

The New Statesman’s Rachel Wearmouth has posted on X a screengrab of some of the WhatsApp messages from Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, sent to Dominic Cummings, the PM’s then chief adviser, in autumn 2020. These were shown at the hearing a little earlier. (See 2.15pm.) Case says that at that point Johnson just wanted to let Covid rip. Case said Johnson was making government “impossible” because he “changes strategic direction every day”.

This is the complaint also made by Cummings, and it explains why Cummings calls Johnson the “trolley” – because he veers all over the place.

UPDATE: In this message Case says:

I am at the end of my tether. He changes strategic direction every day (Monday we were all about fear of virus returning as per Europe, March etc – today we’re in ‘let it rip’ mode cos (sic) the UK is pathetic, needs a cold shower etc.) He cannot lead and we cannot support him in leading with this approach. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day. The team can’t deliver anything under these circumstances. A weak team (as we have got – Hancock, Williamson, Dido, No10/CO, Perm Secs), definitely cannot succeed in these circs (sic). IT HAS TO STOP! Decide and set direction – deliver – explain. Gov’t isn’t actually that hard but this guy is really making it impossible.

Updated at 11.11 EDT

Johnson did not think Covid was ‘big deal’ in early February 2020, inquiry told

Q: Would you agree there was a high degree of dysfunctionality in dealing with the PM?

Yes, says Shafi.

Q: When Covid starting to become a global concern, did Johnson suggest it was not a big deal?

Shafi replies:

I don’t think he thought it was a big deal at that time.

Shafi says Johnson had a briefing with the chief medical officer on 4 February. He repeatedly stressed afterwards the need to avoid over-reaction.

Updated at 10.57 EDT

Imran Shafi, Johnson’s private secretary for public services, is now giving evidence.

Keith says WhatsApp messages between Shafi and Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, were only given to the inquiry last week.

He quotes from Case saying in these exchanges that the exchange of information with the PM was not working well. Case described the system as “a bit of a farce”.

Shafi says this was a reference to how questions were being addressed to private secretaries.

Q: What did you feel about the way so much communication was via WhatsApp?

Shafi says, with lots of people working from home, using WhatsApp made sense.

But he says people who were not involved in policy were getting involved in these WhatsApp discussions.

He says there are long-term messages to be learned about the use of WhatsApp.

Reynolds says he is ‘deeply sorry’ for organising lockdown-busting BYOB drinks do in No 10 garden for staff

Keith asks about the “bring your own booze” event in the No 10 garden in May 2020 that Reynolds organised for No 10 staff. He puts it to him that this was deeply damaging to trust in government.

Reynolds says he is “deeply sorry” for his part in those events and says he would like to apologise unreservedly for what happened. He was “totally wrong” to invite people to the event, he says.

I would first like to say how deeply sorry I am for my part in those events and for the email message, which went out that day.

And I would like to apologise unreservedly to all the families of all those who suffered during Covid for all the distress caused.

But he says news of the event only came out 15 months later, and so that limited the damage to trust in government.

It actually broke into the news about 15 months later. So while I totally accept … I was totally wrong in the way I sent the email around and for the event, I think the impact on public confidence – although obviously now in terms of public confidence, more generally it did have a serious impact – in terms of the pandemic at that time it was less, it had less impact.

Keith says there was another event in June.

Reynolds apologises for that too.

Updated at 10.46 EDT

Vallance complained No 10 aides tried to ‘strong-arm’ him into doing press conference at time of Barnard Castle row

Keith is now asking about Dominic Cummings’ breach, or alleged breach, of lockdown rules and the Barnard Castle affair.

He shows an exchange of messages between Reynolds and Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary at the time. On 24 May Sedwill said: “People are genuinely angry. This isn’t just a bubble story.”

Keith also shows an extract from Sir Patrick Vallance’s diary from 25 May. Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said Reynolds strong-armed him and Prof Chris Whitty into appearing at the press conference that day. They did not want to appear that day because the questions about Cummings were bound to be political.

Reynolds says he did not think he was “strong-arming” Vallance and Whitty. He says they were capable of saying no to him.

UPDATE: In one extract from his diary for 25 May 2020 shown to the hearing, Sir Patrick Vallance said:

CW [Chris Whitty] and I very reluctant to do the press conference. It is highly political and will be focussed on DC [Cummings]. PM seems very bullish and wants to have everything released sooner and more extremely than we would. Wants to divert from the DC fiasco (caught have gone to Durham – clearly against the rules). All very worrying. Cabinet all upbeat and ‘breezy confidence’ – incredibly alarming. ‘Al fresco shopping all like a wonderful Middle East souk’… It was another rambling opening to cabinet. Quite extraordinary. Did say not there yet on on outside hospitality.

And in another extract from his diary for 25 May 2020 shown at the hearing, Vallance said:

Chris and I not at all keen to do the press conference. All highly political and dwarfed by DC. We tried to get out of it by suggesting that it was not the right day to announce new measures, and that this will undermine our credibility. No luck – Simon Case had a go but to no avail…We both went in but then spoke to Stuart G who spoke to PM. We interrupted listening to DC’s rambling and car crash conference to speak to PM. He got immediately that this was too political for us and that it put us in an awkward position. The apparatchiks tried to strong arm us (Lee, James and even Martin his PPS). DC came back from his press conference and said “you two shouldn’t be involved” – we got out! Yvonne Doyle did it – just did study and then all over to PM.

Updated at 11.16 EDT

Because the hearing with Martin Reynolds has overrun, the session with Lee Cain has been postponed until tomorrow, the BBC’s Hugh Pym reports.

Updated at 10.31 EDT

Internal report revealed ‘dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos, and misogyny’ in Covid decision making, inquiry told

Keith says Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary at the time, wrote a report in May 2020 proposing a different structure to deal with Covid. He says the report described “dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos, and a significant degree of misogyny” in how meetings were run and decisions were taking place.

Updated at 10.23 EDT

Cabinet secretary Simon Case described Johnson’s approach as ‘Trump-Bolsonaro-level mad and dangerous’, inquiry told

The Covid inquiry has resumed for the afternoon.

Hugo Keith KC starts by asking about WhatsApp messages showing that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, said in July 2020 that Boris Johnson was advocating an approach that would be “Trump-Bolsonaro-level mad and dangerous”. At the time Johnson was pressing to lift lockdown restrictions quickly.

Martin Reynolds says, as he argued before lunch, that Johnson blew hot and cold.

Keith quotes from further exchanges, when in October 2020 Case said Johnson’s behaviour was making the UK look like “a terrible, tragic joke”.

And he quotes from messages not previously seen in which Johnson is described as “not exactly a consistent interlocutor” and “weak and indecisive”.

Updated at 10.32 EDT

Lee Cain, Boris Johnson’s former communciations director, arriving for the Covid inquiry hearing. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock