08 November 2023 , 12:51
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The UK's former top civil servant warned top Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings that No10 wasn't a "dictatorship" in a bitter clash at the start of the pandemic.
The Covid Inquiry heard Lord Mark Sedwill lashed out at Boris Johnson's top aide as the heart of Government descended into chaos and arguments. Explosive WhatsApp messages show Lord Sedwill griped that "stupid decisions" could be made as he disputed data presented by Mr Cummings - who in turned claimed he was "off the pace".
Lord Sedwill, who was Cabinet Secretary as the crisis unfolded in early 2020, admitted there "should have been" better plans in place to contain the virus. He also apologised to bereaved families after it emerged he had suggested Mr Johnson encourage people to hold "chickenpox parties" to allow Covid to rip through the population.
In a series of revelations he said he'd delayed an emergency Cobra meeting in January 2020 because he thought Matt Hancock was "trying to make a splash". He also told the Inquiry that Mr Johnson had an "optimism bias" which meant he was confident everything would be ok.
Lord Sedwill told the Inquiry that despite the turmoil around him, he desperately tried to give the impression of confidence. He said: "I didn't have the luxury of saying we're doomed, the system is broken, everyone is useless. Even if I said that in private it would have spread across the system."
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Lord Sedwill said he thought Matt Hancock was 'trying to make a splash' (Getty Images)He was shown an email from former No10 advisor Mr Cummings that said a meeting on March 11 "involved a load of people from comms battled about POLICY and unable to make decisions or even knowing who is in charge of key policy areas".
In response the civil service chief hit back: "We are not running a dictatorship here and the PM is not taking nationally significant decisions with a bunch of No10 SpAds (special advisors) and no ministers, no operational experts and no scientists. If necessary, I will take over the 8:15 slot and chair a daily meeting myself."
Pressed on why emergency planners in the Cabinet were overwhelmed in early March 2020, he conceded: "They couldn't cope with a crisis of this scale by that point."
He was also confronted with a "heartless" suggestion that chicken pox-style parties could be held for people with Covid. Apologising to bereaved families he admitted he never expected messages to be made public.
Lord Sedwill had suggested Mr Johnson should go on television and "explain that this is like the old days with chickenpox and people are going to have chickenpox parties". He said: "I understand how, in particular the interpretation that has been put on it, it must have come across as someone in my role was both heartless and thoughtless about this and I genuinely am neither. But I do understand the distress that must have caused and I apologise for that."
Lord Sedwill said he delayed calling an emergency Cobra meeting about the virus because he thought Mr Hancock was trying to "make a splash". The ex-Cabinet Office chief, who was also the UK's national security advisor, said the Department of Health had requested a meeting on January 21.
He told the Inquiry: "I felt that a Cobra which might have been convened primarily for communications purposes wasn't wise. Two days later I was advised there was a genuine cross-government basis for it and I agreed."
Asked by lead counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith KC whether this meant he was concerned that the Department of Health planned to "make a splash", he said: "That is a fair summary of my thinking."
In a tense WhatsApp exchange between Lord Sedwill and Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, the Cabinet Secretary voiced frustration at changes to the estimated number of deaths. Following a meeting between the PM and Health Secretary, he said "stupid decisions" were almost made after the pair were told there could be 600,000 excess deaths.
Lord Sedwill wrote: "600k deaths? That's twice the number I was given yesterday. We almost ended up with stupid decisions being taken in an informal meeting."
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Mr Wormald responded: "That was Dom's number which CMO (chief medical officer Chris Whitty) did not sign up to." Lord Sedwill said he couldn't recall what the decisions he referred to were, but said: "I would have been worried that a sudden change in numbers would have triggered an ill conceived decision."
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