Skip to content

Simon Case: Top official thought Johnson couldn't lead on Covid

Martin Reynolds tells the Covid inquiry he was "deeply sorry for my part in those events"

The UK's top civil servant told colleagues in private that Boris Johnson "cannot lead" at the height of the Covid pandemic.

In WhatsApp messages from September 2020 disclosed to the Covid inquiry, Simon Case said the former PM "changes strategic direction every day".

He added that he was making government "impossible," and "we cannot support him in leading with this approach".

"I am at the end of my tether," he wrote, calling other ministers "weak".

In a day of explosive evidence, one of Mr Johnson's former aides also said he thought Mr Johnson had questioned why the economy was being destroyed "for people who will die anyway soon".

The aide, Imran Shafi, told the inquiry he believed the former PM had made the remark during a meeting with then-chancellor Rishi Sunak in March 2020, around the time of the UK's first lockdown.

A diary note by Shafi stated: "We're killing the patient to tackle the tumour. Large ppl [taken to mean large numbers of people] who will die - why are we destroying economy for people who will die anyway soon."

Asked who had made the remark, the aide replied: "I can't say for sure, I think it was the former prime minister."

Tensions at the top of government were laid bare in a series of WhatsApps, emails and diary entries.

Mr Johnson's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds emailed around 200 staff to a "bring your own booze" drinks event in the No 10 garden during May 2020, at the height of the pandemic.

Mr Reynolds apologised for sending the email, adding it had been "totally wrong".

He also spoke about the difficulties in Downing Street in the early months of the pandemic, adding there was "divergent internal politics" because of Mr Johnson's former top adviser Dominic Cummings.

He added that the government had been unable to cope with the scale of the crisis, and the Cabinet Office at the time had failed to properly co-ordinate the role of different departments.

In other evidence heard by the inquiry:

  • It emerged that Mr Reynolds activated the disappearing messages function in a WhatsApp group set up keep Boris Johnson informed about the Covid response
  • He turned the function on in April 2021, around a month before the public inquiry was first announced
  • He said he could not "recall exactly" why he did so, but he may have been worried about leaks to the media
  • He also said there was "quite a bit of unease" about plans to restructure the civil service and get rid of some officials
  • Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, called Mr Johnson "weak and indecisive" in his diary entries

A key piece of evidence came in the form of a September 2020 WhatsApp exchange between Mr Case, Mr Cummings, and Lee Cain, Mr Johnson's former director of communications.

In the thread, Mr Case, the cabinet secretary, writes that he is "at the end of my tether" with changes of policy coming from the prime minister.

"Monday we were all about fear of the virus returning as per Europe, March, etc. - today we were in 'let it rip' mode 'cos the UK is pathetic, needs a cold shower, etc.," he wrote.

"He [Boris Johnson] cannot lead and we cannot support him in leading with this approach. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day."

He added that the "weak team" at the heart of the Covid response - including then-health secretary Matt Hancock and then-education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson - "cannot succeed" in the circumstances.

"Government isn't actually that hard, but this guy is really making it impossible".

Mr Case also said the government needed a reshuffle and a "totally new approach".

In an earlier exchange from July 2020, when he was No 10 permanent secretary, Mr Case said Mr Johnson wanted to "declare that we are over Covid and that it is going to just all be fine".

Referencing the presidents of the United States and Brazil at the time, he added: "This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous".

Covid-19 Inquiry A note from Imran ShafiCovid-19 Inquiry
A note from Imran Shafi recorded a March 2020 meeting between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak
1px transparent line

Mr Cummings is due to give evidence on Tuesday, alongside Mr Cain - who was due to testify on Monday but the evidence session overran.

Elsewhere, the inquiry heard that Mr Johnson's aides tried to get the country's top scientific advisers to take part in a press conference with Mr Cummings about his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle in County Durham.

In diary entries, Sir Patrick said that the advisers tried to "strong arm" him and England's chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, into taking part - but this was apparently overruled by Mr Cummings himself.

Mr Case, who has been cabinet secretary since September 2020, is expected to give evidence to the inquiry but is currently on medical leave.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said earlier this month he was taking a "short period of leave" and was "due to return to work in a few weeks".

Mr Johnson, as well as his successor Rishi Sunak, are also due to give evidence to the inquiry later this autumn.

A group representing families bereaved by Covid said it was "was hard to keep up with the number of horrific revelations" that had emerged from the inquiry.

"While No. 10 squabbled over power, they resigned themselves to a staggering scale of deaths across the country," a spokesperson added.