Lockdowns Were “For the Sake of It”, Former Minister Tells Covid Inquiry
England’s leg of the inquiry was full of character assassinations, effing and jeffing and flip-flops. Anything of note was lost when the PM’s phone was mysteriously wiped. If it hadn’t been for the Lockdown Files, we probably would have never learned that masks in schools were introduced to avoid an argument with Nicola.
But in Scotland, some of the decision-makers began to loosen their tongues: officials “froze” in the face of the evidence about the virus; Sturgeon let it be known that in wanting to be the person who drove Covid out of Scotland, she entered into direct Twitter messaging with Professor Sridhar. We also learnt that Sir Gregor Smith, Scotland’s CMO, deleted his WhatsApp messages “at the end of every day” and encouraged his colleagues to do so too.
We have already written that the Welsh First Minister considered lockdowns a failed experiment and that Welsh Government ministers were using disappearing messages. But all this pales into insignificance with the latest testimonies in Wales.
In testimony, Simon Hart, the Secretary of State for Wales during the pandemic, said the different rules were brought in for the “sake of it”.
Tom Poole, the KC to the Welsh Inquiry, asked:
Mr. Hart’s response is somewhat astonishing.
Tom Poole pushed the point further by asking:
Also on the stand was the most senior special adviser to the Welsh Government, Jane Runeckles. Runeckles was a member of three WhatsApp groups: ‘Drake Spads’, ‘coronavirus legal hotline’ and a group involving Welsh Government ministers.
As a special adviser, she was responsible for 14 other special advisers who supported the First Minister and individual Welsh ministers.
From January 1st 2020 to 31 May 2022, Runeckles used her personal mobile phone to send WhatsApp messages. The KC put it to her that she was prohibited from doing so:
Hallett intervened when Runeckles tried to obfuscate:
The Welsh Government Information Management and Governance Policy states: “Staff should be aware that when using their [Welsh Government] phones in this way they are in fact creating ‘public records’. Staff using private phones for [Welsh Government] business may also be creating public records.”
Runeckles was in a bind. She said she was aware of the policy but was then asked why she turned on disappearing messages.
Hallett waded in, as she was having none of it:
Runeckles was further on the hook when some retrieved messages revealed direct lockdown business was happening on WhatsApp.
The Welsh leg of the inquiry tells us pandemic business was taking place on WhatsApp; chat was how lockdown discussions were done and then deleted.
We have gleaned that lockdowns in Wales were implemented as an experiment and for the sake of it. However, over the three legs of the inquiry there has been no indication that any decision was based on evidence.
In the pandemic politics replaced public health: we wonder if the WhatsApp messages had been disclosed in full, whether they would have revealed the logic behind the decision-making was far worse or absent altogether.
This post will not self-destruct or self-delete; it isn’t an experiment, won’t flip-flop, and isn’t commercially sensitive. You will not incur a fixed penalty notice if you choose not to read it, and it isn’t written just for the sake of it.
Prof. Carl Heneghan is the Oxford Professor of Evidence Based Medicine and Dr. Tom Jefferson is an epidemiologist based in Rome who works with Professor Heneghan on the Cochrane Collaboration. This article was first published on their Substack, Trust The Evidence, which you can subscribe to here.
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Nothing will change unless some of these SPADs (and Sturgeon & Useless etc) receive severe penalties. If they are allowed to nod and say “it won’t happen again”, you can be absolutely certain it WILL happen again.
Justice needs to be seen to be done.
I suspect they were just useful idiots mainly. The orders came from somewhere else.
Useful? Sturgeon?
Useful to those who were pulling the strings. Enthusiastic implementers of “lockdowns” etc.
Sadly, nothing will change unless also there is dramatic change to the upper echelons and elites in the Civil Service. These anonymous people are unelected, wield enormous power and influence and for the past forty years have been allowed to develop personal contacts and relationships with external influencers in commerce and industry.
In short it is a system which breeds corruption.
And we are all its victims.
GCHQ can retrieve any WhatsApp “deleted message”, if ordered or inclined to do so. We’re the best in the world at it.
The real question is why is this not being done.
Sort of agree. They can store the encrypted message when it’s sent then I wouldn’t be too surprised if they could decrypt it if they had the phone with the corresponding instance of WhatsApp. To crack the encryption with brute force is another matter.
We are sadly long past the days of Turing and the Polish capturing an Enigma without the Nazis knowing.
Without a back door (a designed in entrance which bypasses security/encryption) or as you say, the other half of the conversation still in existence, the messages are GONE.
“The real question is why is this not being done.”
Assuming what you write is correct, which I do not assume, it might be because those concerned do not want it to be generally known, even if some people might know it.
Whatsap? Why do they all use this? Is it the thought that it is secret? It is not really!
No difference between the behaviour of these functionaries and that of other Socialist Fascist regime functionaries: ‘This exhibit consisted of charred fragments of German stenographic notes (see example of a page). I had first run across them while doing research on Adolf Hitler’s stenographers and their records.’ ‘Hitler, in September 1942, decided in to have his own record of what took place at the military conferences in order to have proof on his side of what he had ordered. He ordered that stenographers be employed to take notes of what took place at the conferences.’ ‘Toward the end of April (1945) Hitler’s Military Historian, who had travelled to Bavaria with his copy of the transcribed stenographic notes, came to Berchtesgaden, and raised the question with the stenographers of what should be done with the transcripts in light of the impending defeat and occupation by American forces. He thought it best to destroy everything. Despite some of the stenographers objecting the decision was made to destroy the transcripts and stenographic notes. The destruction occurred on one of the first days of May (1945), shortly before the American occupation of Berchtesgaden. Two stenographers were present for identification purposes. In a wooded valley near the village… Read more »
Isn’t it strange that official German records of this time always end up “being burnt”? Why would anyone want to burn a record of Hitler’s military conferences after his death(!) and almost immediately before the German capitulation? There were no more military secrets to keep and the ‘narrative’ of the winners had already been written and must have been known. At that time, unlike as in the Welsh case, nobody of the core people could hope that they’d still have a future career if only …
Destruction of first-hand official records (reportedly, the military archive with all original documents about both world wars was also “burnt”) would certainly very convenient for people seeking to establish some sort of alternate reality version of the events.
I always enjoy a Bill Murray cameo. Fits in seamlessly with all the other actors in the brazen pantomime some still call ‘politics’.
You have to look at the panic and the reaction on social media at the time. For a very formative period people believed that up to one in five people could be killed off. How could any state resist such an appeal from the populace. It would’ve taken very brave people in charge who were very convinced of their views and who had the credibility to be listened to. Such people were thin on the ground then. I am not making excuses for them because I saw how it became very quickly the largest transfer of wealth upwards in history. Entirely preictable given the mechanics of the system. And then of course the ultimate prize -stay at home until the injection comes out. And then all of a sudden you have huge white structures growing in your circulatory system that have an other-worldly quality about them
But, you have to look at where the panic came from in the first place, and it was not from the public. Once that seed was planted by what may have been irresponsible remarks or more likely deliberate, the public were so frightened, that any suggestion of playing by the previously agreed rules was seen as reckless. I remember during the build up that the government very quietly downgraded the risk but at that stage the damage was done, and then bingo, we had a lockdown, and the rest is history. Amongst my dental colleagues I felt like a lone voice trying to inject some reasonable thought, but even they were running with the hysteria, and when I mentioned alternative therapies such as ivermectin, the were completely blinded by the ‘deadly’ labels and we prepared to wait for the salvation they believed were the ‘vaccines’. In their minds there was simply no alternative. It was a very lonely time.
You have to look at the global financial situation in lat 2019 and early 2020. There was simply no other way. The samdemic pushed it down the line for a few years, You know now how evul your leaders really are. Look on the bright side that is a revelation that occurs only once in many lfetimes. So you had it pointed out to you. Universe is asking of you.
It has gone forever. The subtle feeling of a night out or knowing your son is going out on the lash and having a good time. That spirit has gone forever and they mean it when they say you won’t be happy again. It is about having a bit of self-respect and holding these ghouls to account.
It is like the film Hellraiser and the Cenobytes – you summoned us and we came. Just like maybe if you were at a weak point in your life you might’ve fallen victim to some woman who you wished that you never met. This is an ill situation. Fighting it begins with recognition of the malaise. It starts with looking at yourself in the mirror and saying yes I am thoroughly diseased. If you start there you might make progress. If you don’t then you will decline and sooner than you think.
Looks and sounds like Misfeasance in Public Office to me. “Misfeasance is a form of misconduct, and it occurs when a public official, public servant or public body knowingly and willingly acts to cause loss or harm to a third party. For example, this could be through causing a person financial loss, damage to their reputation or personal injury, whilst a ‘public official’ could be any of the following: Member of the police force Member of the armed forces Government minister Local government official Civil servant Prison officer Security agency It’s important to understand that unlike negligence, misfeasance is not causing harm to another as a result of carelessness or lack of judgment. It requires a greater degree of culpability, such as acting to the detriment of another, and abusing power or position of responsibility. The police, government and other state agencies should only ever use their powers for the public good, and though the sentence for misfeasance in public office will depend on the harm caused and the level of responsibility exercised, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Misfeasance in public office is an offence at common law, dating back to the 13th century, whilst it is often grounds… Read more »
They can delete all the evidence they want, we will remove them all at the Ballot box. 🗳
Cuurent guidelines for Social media apps such as Whatsapp are to use with care and never for items marked secret! Go figure.
How about anyone found using them for any official business will be fired!
What I find encouraging in these dark times is the fact that so many people in high positions are now bravely coming forward to tell the truth to the public.
These include their revelations about the Covid Hoax, the Post Office, Third World Immigration, and even the Earl Spencer’s exposure of paedophile boarding school teachers, including females. And the Boeing scandal in the US, for which the main whistleblower supposedly committed suicide before completing his testimony. Remember David Kelly.
There should be a List of Honour for Whistleblowers.