Covid Inquiry

Katie59

The thread of it so far has been everyone blaming others especially the government for doing the wrong things, maybe that’s the verdict at the end.

But how is that going to help the right decisions to be made in the futur, it’s just a blame game.

That's what I have been thinking for the whole of this Inquiry.

Fleurpepper

Yes, and they should have had the courage to challenge BJ openly- lose their jobs and go public. THAT would have been the honest and useful thing to do.

Seriously? Where do you think that would have left us, with no scientific and medical experts tempering the governments actions?

Boris may have struggled with scientific concepts but our scientist, Sir Patrick Vallance equally struggles with the English language, when he confuses bamboozle and baffle.

Boris wasn't bamboozled, a word meaning to cheated or fooled, by the science, but he was assuredly baffled by it as in the fact that he couldn't understand it.

Yes, and they should have had the courage to challenge BJ openly- lose their jobs and go public. THAT would have been the honest and useful thing to do.

A Chief Scientific Advisor is just that though Maybee, an advisor. We could project onto him a more influential role, but that’s not the reality of the situation he and his colleagues were in, they had no governmental authority. Their part in the briefings was tightly controlled if you remember, and they would not be able to brief against what the PM said. If they did, they wouldn’t be there the next day - look at what happened to Yvonne Doyle.

If he’d spoken out, it would have made a dreadful uncertain situation for the country even worse

Iam64

MayBee70, what do you believe Patrick Vallance could have done differently?

We were in terrifying, unprecedented times. People, even those with no faith in Johnson, rightly looked to the government to lead

He said he wouldn’t have endorsed eat out to help out if he’d been consulted on it so why didn’t he speak out about it when it happened. And Van Tam was the only one that called out Cummings for what he did,

The thread of it so far has been everyone blaming others especially the government for doing the wrong things, maybe that’s the verdict at the end.

But how is that going to help the right decisions to be made in the futur, it’s just a blame game.

MayBee70, what do you believe Patrick Vallance could have done differently?

We were in terrifying, unprecedented times. People, even those with no faith in Johnson, rightly looked to the government to lead

But he still stood next to Johnson at the daily briefings giving Johnson credence.

MayBee70

Just imagine how much worse it would have been if many of us hadn’t’ve taken our health into our own hands and locked down before we were told to.

I was ill before it was supposedly identified, as were other people I know. The person i caught the unknown virus from died.

It isn't called covid 19 for nothing.
Quite right - was the WHO asleep?
People in Wuhan knew something was very wrong in autumn 2019 with the new virus.

Casdon
I am left feeling sorry for Patrick Vallance, it must have been immensely frustrating being given no direction. He comes across in his evidence as very professional.

I do too, he must have felt as if no-one in government was listening.

Casdon

I am left feeling sorry for Patrick Vallance, it must have been immensely frustrating being given no direction. He comes across in his evidence as very professional.

Thanks Casdon. I’ve found the evidence compelling. I’m surprised by the occasional comment suggesting they’re ‘all as bad as each other’, trying to distance themselves. The scientists seem straight forward in telling it as it was.

Eat out to Help out shocked me at the time. To learn the scientific advisor wasn’t involved in its planning and would have advised it would increase transmission will stay with me

My now 7 year old grandson, along with most of his group in year 3, is still ‘catching up’ with what’s expected in year 3. He’s a happy, well motivated boy, at his recent parents evening his very experienced teacher reassured his parents he’s doing well - catching up with the legacy of being out of reception for a year etc etc

So we opened the pubs, not the schools………

Sunak and Johnston seem to have ignored the scientific advice given at the time. The worst people in charge of a country at the worst possible time

We were another couple who acted much sooner than the government and locked ourselves down much sooner.

It was obvious what was likely to happen.

But not everyone was in that fortunate position though. Those at work did not have any choice.

Just imagine how much worse it would have been if many of us hadn’t’ve taken our health into our own hands and locked down before we were told to.

COVID is just nature's way of dealing with old people

I knew from the start that Boris was ignorant and incompetent about the matter. So I disregarded much of what he said. His so called advisors too.
I had been reading reports from various Chinese correspondents from Dec 2019 onwards.
It isnt called covid 19 for nothing.
I warned early, as many as would listen in real life
Boris didnt much act until beginning of March 2020. Weeks too late.

They asked him about his notes and said how he had handed them over instantly and willingly without amendments.
He said some opinions stood as when they were written, some thoughts he had revised and noted after later discussions and in some cases he later disagreed with himself. I thought it was very honest.

I don’t get the impression from what’s been said today that Vallance was trying to distance himself from his actions though? He was asked a lot of difficult questions and appeared to answer honestly, whether it put him in a good light or not. That can’t have been easy.

maddyone

They’re all squirming now, trying to distance themselves from what happened and making themselves appear whiter than white.
I agree about Van Tam Maybee. I thought he had integrity at the time.

Vallance can hardly be distancing himself from his own notes; which he wrote up each day. I just thought that he might be finding it a bit embarrassing to have them read out.

What is also clear from those notes is that Johnson found it very hard to understand graphs and scientific terms, such as 'doubling'.... He couldn't hold on to information, either...

Aveline

My GP Dad used to call Flu, 'the old man's friend'.

It’s also the reason why older people were always scared to go into hospital. But I think there’s a huge difference between dying of pneumonia and dying from covid, especially at the start of the pandemic when so little was known about it.

My GP Dad used to call Flu, 'the old man's friend'.

They’re all squirming now, trying to distance themselves from what happened and making themselves appear whiter than white.
I agree about Van Tam Maybee. I thought he had integrity at the time.

Yes. Thank you. That is what I heard. I still think that Whitty and Vallance should have been more vocal about what was happening at the time. The only one with any * was Van Tam.

I think that Vallance must be squirming to hear his private notes being read out (though I assume that he handed them over voluntarily). They are very damning.

And he did admit that even the scientists were a bit late on insisting on a lockdown...

If you're on twitter, Maybee, this tweet has an extract from Vallance's note book in which he says that Dominic Cummings reported that 'Rishi thinks just let people die and that's OK'

Would that be what you heard?

twitter.com/Jc62Matildamog/status/1726627973531681084