Housing Secretary Michael Gove is due to give evidence at the Covid-19 inquiry, alongside former deputy chief medical officer Professor Dame Jenny Harries.
His evidence will come the day after the inquiry heard that former health secretary Matt Hancock knew Tier 3 lockdown restrictions would not work when he imposed them on Greater Manchester.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, accused the government of administering a “punishment beating” for the city in late 2020, following an argument over financial support for residents who were unable to work due to the restrictions.
Quoting from written evidence from Mr Hancock, Mr Burnham said: “He says in his evidence about Tier 3, ‘I was in despair that we had announced a policy that we knew would not work.’”
The tier system was introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The system was, however, unable to stem infections and a month-long national lockdown was introduced in November 2020, followed by a stricter tier system in December.
Sadiq Khan: Lives could have been saved
Sadiq Khan yesterday accused the government of failing to keep him informed about the severity of Covid-19 in early 2020, saying “lives could have been saved” if he had been invited to emergency Cobra meetings.
Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.
He also criticised a lack of communication from the government, saying it was “unusual” that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.
Mr Khan told the inquiry: “The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I’m disappointed the Government weren’t giving us information in February about what they knew then.”
Matt Hancock ‘knew lockdown tiers would not work’, Covid inquiry hears
The submission was read out by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who used his appearance to slam the Westminster government’s “London-centric” approach to the pandemic.
Read the full article from Archie Mitchell here
Welcome to our live coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of the Covid-19 inquiry as housing secretary Michael Gove, formerly the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will give evidence.
We’ll be bringing you live updates here.
