Covid Inquiry

Opal

Maybe we should change the title of the thread to "let's all jump on the "we hate Boris" bandwagon" - this enquiry is just a blame game by any other standards. Trial by media .......

Rather than blame the Government for how it handled the pandemic - and let's be honest, none of us know what the outcomes would have been had it been handled differently, because we haven't got a bloody crystal ball, how about blaming bloody China for releasing the virus onto the world in the first place? I wonder how many of you who are so critical of those who had to handle the pandemic have actually still been visiting China, buying chinese goods and generally supporting the Chinese economy since it happened? Put the blame where it belongs - in China!

Are you aware of Operation Cygnet, run under the supervision of Hunt as Health Secretary and Cameron as PM?

Sorry to hear about your husband, hope he has made a decent recovery.

paddyann54

Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish scientists wanted to lockdown earlier ,before the Cheltenham races,football matches and massive concerts AND closed Airports.They were rubbished all over the media.Patrick Vallance said in HIS statement that she should have been listened to....it would have saved over 30,000 lives IN THE FIRST MONTHS .

Ms Sturgeon was using Covid for political point scoring, was rather pathetic to watch. There was also the controversial Nike conference in Edinburgh which infected many, so lets not pretend that everything was the fault of Johnson and his inept government. I loathe him and everything he stands for by the way.

And before any of you pile on - my husband was in intensive care with the virus. I don't blame the Government of the day - I blame China.

Maybe we should change the title of the thread to "let's all jump on the "we hate Boris" bandwagon" - this enquiry is just a blame game by any other standards. Trial by media .......

Rather than blame the Government for how it handled the pandemic - and let's be honest, none of us know what the outcomes would have been had it been handled differently, because we haven't got a bloody crystal ball, how about blaming bloody China for releasing the virus onto the world in the first place? I wonder how many of you who are so critical of those who had to handle the pandemic have actually still been visiting China, buying chinese goods and generally supporting the Chinese economy since it happened? Put the blame where it belongs - in China!

MaizieD

I'd be interested to know just how well Johnson's answers to the inquiry barristers tally with his witness statement.

In the other sessions I've watched there has been reference back to the witness's written statements. I didn't see this during the time I watched Johnson's session (which wasn't the entire session because I couldn't take any more of the waffle and evasions).

His witness statement will have been written with legal help. I wouldn't be surprised if the story he tells in it diverges widely from his oral evidence. I believe the witness statements are being published, as well as the transcripts of the sessions and the videos.

It has been said that he's been working on preparing for the inquiry for a year. In which case it's hard to understand why he is making such a poor fist of his oral evidence. Unless, of course, it just demonstrates that he is incapable of retaining information...(as other witnesses have pointed out)

I think his replies work in his favour in that you actually forget part way through what he’s talking about. In parliament he used to deflect criticisms against him as being criticisms of eg the NHS (which wasn’t the case). He’s doing the same here. It’s taking him so long to not answer the questions that time is running out to ask more questions.

Urmstongran

With respect Grantanow Those Tories who voted for him should be ashamed I’m not in the least bit ashamed. Historically I lent Boris my vote as, at the time, he was the only politician promising to Get Brexit Done. The referendum was being disregarded by Labour (2nd referendum vote anyone?) and Lib Dem (Jo Swinson 🤣🤣 ‘lets just cancel it’).
😱
Democracy was staggeringly ignored at that time. It was frustrating to hear MP’s opinion the HoC tabling all those bluddy Indicative Votes. What an absolute farce that was! We NEEDED Boris (those of us who voted for Brexit) to lead us out of the fudge and obsfucation.

“Comets the hour, comets the man”.

Unfortunately the pandemic cometh too. The rest is history.

Anyway, I’m voting Reform next GE. 😁

Most (all?) of the people/politicians that pushed for Brexit have been discredited since. Johnson, Bannon, Cummings etc.

I'd be interested to know just how well Johnson's answers to the inquiry barristers tally with his witness statement.

In the other sessions I've watched there has been reference back to the witness's written statements. I didn't see this during the time I watched Johnson's session (which wasn't the entire session because I couldn't take any more of the waffle and evasions).

His witness statement will have been written with legal help. I wouldn't be surprised if the story he tells in it diverges widely from his oral evidence. I believe the witness statements are being published, as well as the transcripts of the sessions and the videos.

It has been said that he's been working on preparing for the inquiry for a year. In which case it's hard to understand why he is making such a poor fist of his oral evidence. Unless, of course, it just demonstrates that he is incapable of retaining information...(as other witnesses have pointed out)

Predictive text ha! 🤣
Electrical goods anyone?

With respect Grantanow Those Tories who voted for him should be ashamed I’m not in the least bit ashamed. Historically I lent Boris my vote as, at the time, he was the only politician promising to Get Brexit Done. The referendum was being disregarded by Labour (2nd referendum vote anyone?) and Lib Dem (Jo Swinson 🤣🤣 ‘lets just cancel it’).
😱
Democracy was staggeringly ignored at that time. It was frustrating to hear MP’s opinion the HoC tabling all those bluddy Indicative Votes. What an absolute farce that was! We NEEDED Boris (those of us who voted for Brexit) to lead us out of the fudge and obsfucation.

“Comets the hour, comets the man”.

Unfortunately the pandemic cometh too. The rest is history.

Anyway, I’m voting Reform next GE. 😁

He’s just deflecting everything and not remembering anything.

I thought that Hugo Keith gave Johnson an easy time and they just said the same on Sky News.

Johnson must never hold office of any kind again. He is unfitted to be a PM or any other position of responsibility. Those Tories who voted for him should be ashamed.

*goady

But there again.....I do believe you are a member of the Johnson fan club? It must be difficult for you seeing on screen what many of us have said for years, namely that Johnson was morally unfit for the job and a proven liar. Thoughts and prayers 🙏

Unnecessarily goody HPQ.
Prayers are best saved for serious concerns in my opinion.

Iam64

I’ve been listening to the questions from the barrister representing families. Mr Johnson soon became irritated when asked to answer the question rather than deflect.
His fan club may reject this inquiry as a waste of money - it isn’t.

I certainly don’t think ‘an inquiry’ is a waste of money Iam.
Just ‘ours’!
Yes we need to work out where we went wrong and where things could have been done better etc but our UK inquiry seems inferior to that of Sweden’s.

I would quite like a discussion on the rights and wrongs of lockdown but that wont happen. The impact on children has been incaluable in particular vulnerable children. I dont think as a society we are ready for that discussion yet.

I’ve been listening to the questions from the barrister representing families. Mr Johnson soon became irritated when asked to answer the question rather than deflect.
His fan club may reject this inquiry as a waste of money - it isn’t.

Now he’s being questioned by someone else he’s getting a bit bolshy. It’s getting very interesting now.

Even Johnson accepts that there was no alternative to lockdown.

Johnson now playing the I was ill with covid too, card.

Primrose53

I have seen just a few bits on the news but like most enquiries (of whatever nature) it will be a complete waste of time and money with the same outcome “lessons will be learned.”

The thing is it was a complete one off and nobody had any experience of how to handle it. Boris had to listen to his advisors as, obviously, he is not an expert in Covid. At the same time he had teachers screaming at him that he needed to lock down straight away along with thousands of other people who fancied a few months off work.

It’s now generally accepted that lockdown was the wrong thing to do but millions of people were paid furlough, businesses were helped enormously in this country unlike many other countries so I really do believe that Boris did his best under very difficult circumstances.

It's not generally accepted at all that lockdown was the wrong thing to do.

The inquiry, so far, has looked like a sinister Pass-The-Parcel exercise. Certainly Pass-The-Responsibility.

Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish scientists wanted to lockdown earlier ,before the Cheltenham races,football matches and massive concerts AND closed Airports.They were rubbished all over the media.Patrick Vallance said in HIS statement that she should have been listened to....it would have saved over 30,000 lives IN THE FIRST MONTHS .

This was Arden's approach
‘The best thing we can do to get out of this as quickly as we can is to go hard,” Ardern told a news conference. “We have made the decision on the basis that it is better to start high and go down levels rather than to go low, not contain the virus and see it move quickly,” she said.

Really. I thought the only thing accepted about lockdown was that it was left too late and cost thousands of people their lives? I agree that he did his very best, it’s just that his very best wasn’t good enough and he was the worst possible leader of this country at the worst possible time. Just remind me of the death rate in New Zealand which had a leader who locked down fast because she could see what was happening.