Two of the most senior members of the government displayed “nuclear levels” of overconfidence as the coronavirus loomed, the UK Covid inquiry was told on Wednesday.
Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, then one of the country’s highest-ranking civil servants, said there was a “lack of humanity” at the heart of government actions.
Boris Johnson, prime minister at the time, displayed a “breezy” air that the UK would handle the pandemic well, even as the seriousness of the crisis and the lack of planning was becoming clear, one of the country’s senior civil servants said.
Matt Hancock – who was health secretary at the time – when asked if he needed help, pretended to be a batsman at the crease, batting away the pressures of the job, the inquiry heard.
Ms MacNamara said she had warned that the UK was “heading for a disaster” in which thousands of people would die, 10 days before the first coronavirus lockdown was ordered.
But often the mood inside the cabinet failed to recognise the seriousness of Covid, she said.
On March 13, 2020, she warned of looming tragedy after being told by Department for Health official Mark Sweeney that there were no government plans for a pandemic.
“I think the country is heading for a disaster. I think we are going to kill thousands of people,” she recalled saying in the prime minister’s study at a meeting with Mr Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings and others. Mr Johnson had not been present.
Ms MacNamara said there was a “pattern” of “being reassured that something was absolutely fine” by Mr Hancock before discovering it was “very, very far from fine”.
Mr Hancock has “time and time again”, without “any ambiguity”, told the cabinet that plans were in place during the pandemic, which did not turn out to be the case.
In Ms MacNamara's witness statement, she described asking Mr Hancock if he needed any extra support.
“He reassured me that he was 'loving responsibility' and to demonstrate this took up a batsman's stance outside the cabinet room and said 'they bowl them at me, I knock them away',” the statement read.
The batsman incident demonstrated “nuclear levels” of overconfidence in government during the pandemic, the inquiry heard.
Mr Johnson was dismissive of early warnings early about the seriousness of the pandemic, she told the inquiry.
In January and February 2020, Ms MacMamara said her “injections of caution” about the uncertainty of the situation surrounding Covid-19 “did not register with Mr Johnson”.
“In those early Cabinet meetings in particular Mr Johnson was very confident that the UK would sail through and we should all be careful of over-correcting in advance of something that was unlikely to have a huge impact and for which – in any case – we were well prepared.”
She said Mr Johnson's “breezy confidence” jarred with her.
“It was the day on which there was a question about whether the Prime Minister should shake hands with people on a visit to the hospital and there was a jokey discussion about alternative greetings to handshakes,” she said in a witness statement.
“The Prime Minister felt – not unreasonably – that it was a bit ridiculous for him to suggest alternative greetings.
“But the jovial tone, the view that in implementing containment measures and suspending work and schooling, the Italians were overreacting, and the breezy confidence that we would do better than others had jarred with me.
“I remember saying that I thought that all people wanted to know was what was the right thing to do – and that was not clear.”
The official inquiry aims to learn lessons from Britain's response to the pandemic.
Earlier this week, Mr Cummings and Lee Cain, two former political staffers who worked inside the Prime Minister’s office, gave evidence.
Mr Cummings, who left government after a lockdown-breaching cross-country drive, said Mr Johnson believed Covid-19 was “nature’s way of dealing with old people”.
Mr Johnson will give a “full account” of his actions during the pandemic to the Covid inquiry, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said.
“What I think you are seeing there is very partial, one piece of evidence among many others. I am quite sure that when the former prime minister gives evidence he will give a full account of himself, the cabinet office has given a very full account of how we conducted ourselves,” the minister said.
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Rain Management
Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
Amount raised: $2.5m from BitMex Ventures and Blockwater. Another $6m raised from MEVP, Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT, Jimco and DIFC Fintech Fund
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Mountain%20Boy
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PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
Ad Astra
Director: James Gray
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones
Five out of five stars
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Results
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Tu%20Jhoothi%20Main%20Makkaar%20
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