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Oct 2023
39m 54s

Covid Inquiry: Government Short Cummings...

BBC News
About this episode

Figures at the centre of the government decisions during the coronavirus pandemic give evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry.

First up was Lee Cain, who was a senior aide to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Then it was Dominic Cummings, who was Mr Johnson’s chief adviser until he resigned in late 2020.

The inquiry heard the pandemic was the wrong crisis for Boris Johnson’s skillset, the government had “no plan” to help vulnerable people in lockdown and diary entries also read out suggest Mr Johnson believed old people should get the virus to protect others.

To talk us through the latest revelations, Adam is joined by Chris Mason and former Downing Street Director of Communications, Guto Harri.

And, Adam meets with Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan, to look ahead to this week’s AI Safety Summit.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere

Today's Newscast was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Chris Gray with Alex Collins, Gemma Roper and Sam McLaren. The technical producer was Gareth Jones. The editors are Jonathan Aspinwall and Sam Bonham.

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