Covid Inquiry Chair Baroness Heather Hallett has just delivered her report into how the government handled the pandemic. It’s scathing of Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald…
“As the most senior official within the Department of Health and Social Care, it was Sir Christopher Wormald’s responsibility to rectify the over-enthusiastic impression Mr Hancock had given to 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office about the ability of the Department of Health and Social Care to cope with its role in the pandemic response. 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office needed to understand the challenges the Department of Health and Social Care was facing and consider how these could be addressed.
However, despite being aware of the assurances which Mr Hancock was providing to 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care – and that there were some concerns that these assurances were misleading – the Inquiry has seen no evidence that Sir Christopher Wormald took such action. His failure to do so gave rise to additional concerns at the centre of the UK government about the effectiveness of Sir Christopher Wormald’s leadership at the Department of Health and Social Care.Mr Hancock’s unjustified assurances to 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office that the Department of Health and Social Care was managing the crisis effectively – and Sir Christopher Wormald’s failure to rectify these assurances – obscured the reality and the need for more action.”
And yet as Guido has reported, Starmer and McSweeney are resisting pressure to sack him…
