BOOM !!! "I should have been the mayor in Jaws and kept the beaches open"

Well Dominic Cummings lit the fuse and the bombs went off. Wednesday morning 26th March 2021. 1. Matt Hancock should have been sacked

2. Crazy to have a choice of Jeremy Corbyn or Boris Johnson as Prime Ministers. 3. There was No Plan for coronavirus. The Official line was herd immunity but it was flawed. 4. Boris Johnson thought Coronavirus was a scare story and was more worried about the economy. In a morning of candid revelations, Cummings spoke frankly, stating he attended the Parliamentary Committee Hearing because the bereaved deserved the truth. They got it.

He started in a question and answer session , by stating That The Government fell disastrously short of standards the public expect and they had failed the public. 25th of January 2020, the view of Whitehall was not to follow how SE Asia coped and Australia New Zealand. It was thought the British would not accept lockdowns. Matt Hancock told DC "everyone knows what to do", but all Hancock´s claims were hollow. The Virus did not hit alarm bells, it was played down. Not until end of February DC realised the Govt was not operating on a war footing. People were skiing, Johnson was on holiday for 2 weeks. BJ said it was "a new swine flu, a scare story" . DC job title was Assistant to PM. There was a Group Think Bubble that excluded questioning the policy. There was a reticence to have a wave in winter when NHS could not cope, better to have a wave in June, but all the data was wrong and the flattening of the curve, because by March the Curve was closer than June and therefore, the time officials thought they had was not there. The virus was quicker spreading than they thought. That included Sage. Herd immunity was thought to be inevitable and there was no Plan B. Shield the vulnerable, by which time enough people would have caught it, and then carry on. That was the assumption March 13 2020. Other countries were closing Borders but not Britain. Mass events not cancelled. " look what is happening in Lombardy" and no reaction. An insane situation, with Carrie Symonds more worried about her dog. DC realised Britain was heading for total catastrophe biggest disaster since WW2. "There is no plan , we are in deep trouble". March 14 Saturday DC tells BJ we have to lock down, but there is no plan how, no financial compensation, furlough plan, nothing. This was 6 weeks after WHO had announced to the World test test test. . DC wanted to hit the panic button earlier but was outnumbered. The Cabinet spoke of chickenpox parties and it would all go away. Everything should have been locked down earlier and lives would have been saved. There were wrong people in wrong jobs at senior level " lions were led by donkeys". DC told BJ to sack Matt Hancock. March 3rd the official line was contain, mitigate, delay, but it was a press release not a plan. There were no plans for anything. Dept of Health was "a smoking ruins" . They said PPE would take ages to get shipped from China. DC told them to use all the planes that were grounded. It was like "wading through treacle". BJ thought the real danger was collapse of the economy NOT the virus. Sunak did what he could. BJ was the problem and Matt Hancock. It was clear not only have thousands of Coronavirus deaths but NHS could not cope with road accidents and cancer deaths as well. People would be scared and there would be an economic calamite anyway. The PM and Health Sec let down the Public, out of their depth. Politicians want to please the media, Civil Servants want to keep their heads down. Contingency planning had collapsed. No data system until mid April. There was not even a plan to bury the bodies.

Part 2 - the afternoon session . Dominic Cummings giving evidence to Parliamentary Committee on learning lessons from Covid. 14 days time Matt Hancock is called to give evidence. Today DC called MH a liar , for lying at many meetings. DC said he told BJ to sack MH almost every day. So did the Cabinet Sec. A resume of the morning session (see separate post). BJ thought coronavirus was a scare story no worse than swine flu. Whitehall was not interested in doing what SE Asia countries were doing , Whitehall did not think they could learn lesson from them. No contingency planning, no plans at all, not even to bury the dead Jan Feb March 2020. BUT MH told DC that everything was in hand as indeed MH told the House of Commons on 23 Jan 2020 "Coronavirus is of low risk to UK which is well prepared , well equipped and world leaders in testing" (Hansard). IN March no testing data no data at all apart from hospital admissions. 6 weeks after the WHO international alert.

DC was calm, composed, candid, said he had fallen out with BJ after the December 2019 election when DC was no longer required and Carrie Symonds came on the scene wanting her friends to be given jobs. He said he was giving evidence because the bereaved deserved to hear the truth. He apologised for his own errors. In that he was humble. "BJ changes his mind 10 times a day a communications disaster." Civil Servants , Treasury cannot make plans because of constant alterations. BJ was told not to pick a fight with Rashford about school meals. BJ ignored the advice and had to climb down, not once but twice. Same with Covid. BJ resented being proved wrong. Hated the 1st lockdown 23 March, said " he should have been the Mayor in Jaws and kept the beaches open" BJ only concern was economy, until forced into a U turn decision at the 11th hour when told the number of deaths he would have on his hands. MH accused of criminal , disgraceful behaviour that caused serious harm. MH repeatedly lied at meetings 15 or 20 occasions. DC Bernard Castle was a dreadful mistake admit it. He left London because his house was under threat from mobs. He apologised for his error in judgement but his family felt unsafe. DC and BJ at odds. BJ did not take DC advice. BJ would change his mind after reading the Telegraph editorial. BJ was like a shopping trolley crashing from side to side in the aisle. The Cabinet talked of chicken pox parties and it would all go away. Herd immunity was the official policy until BJ forced to concede 1st lock down when told Plan A would kill 260,000. IF the March 23 lockdown had been made earlier, more lives would have been saved and the lockdown would have been shorter. No need to delay a public enquiry. BJ probably wants to sack MH after the enquiry as the fall guy. There was no PPE no procurement system. Britain was on a war footing and Whitehall dealt with things in their usual ponderous manner. Whitehall said Asians do what they are told, British will not. A Vaccine would have been made earlier, if they had paid people to carry out Human Challenge trials. The Vaccine had to be taken away from Dept of Health. Run out of Tests in September. BJ listened to Gupta no one else not interested in circuit breaker. Civil Service threatened to call out a non legitimate government. September decision delayed till 31st October , local tier lock downs did not work, unenforceable, chaotic , confusing, mixed messaging. Lessons NOT learned from March . March there was no data only projections. September there was data ignored by BJ. Cabinet not consulted. Result NHS trashed again, economy , longer lockdowns, needless deaths, decision all down to BJ. No plan , no coherence. "IF YOU LOOK AT THE TOP 1% OF COMPETENT PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY THEY WOULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENT DECISION TO THE PM" BJ always wanted to get back to normal , and believed Coronavirus was all over . Universities open, schools etc. "BJ lost the plot, Govt lost the plot " Care home staff not tested till September. NHS staff not tested till November. PM behaviour appalling . DC wanted to resign and blow the story but was talked into staying. PM making terrible decisions. "let it rip" " let the bodies pile high" BJ was unfit for the job. Back in Feb BJ going through personal crisis new pregnant gf, divorce, lack of money. Mind not on Covid. Not focused on the job. BJ and MH said if things go wrong blame the scientists. Once out of control the virus spread too quickly to regain control. Plans were cobbled together, sometimes there was no plan just a press release. Plans were not thought out., everything was ad hoc. "BJ was not a fit or proper person to get through the pandemic. " Scientists knew about Kent variant in September. Govt has never had a proper border policy. Decisions made, then delayed for days, instead of implemented immediately. "Crackers to have BJ as PM." 7 hours 7 minutes notes taken by Allan Sharpe watching live on Sky News. Pics attached DC white board March 2020 to convince a disinterested BJ Graphs of projected deaths and notes "who do we not save"