It was announced this week that SIR CHRIS WORMALD has been named as the new Cabinet Secretary & Head of the Civil Service, one of the most powerful jobs in government.
I thought I’d take a look back at what we learned about him from his recent Covid Inquiry appearances…
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I thought I’d take a look back at what we learned about him from his recent Covid Inquiry appearances…
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In her Closing Statement at the end of module 3, the Counsel for Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK gave a scathing appraisal of Sir Chris Wormald’s evidence, describing it as:
“…an object lesson in obfuscation, a word salad – so many, many words, so very little substance”.
“…an object lesson in obfuscation, a word salad – so many, many words, so very little substance”.
And she’s absolutely right. His testimony was decidedly unimpressive.
Most of his answers were evasive, repetitive & waffly, with very little substance.
For example, in this clip he is asked about the stop order on FFP3 masks in June 2020, but fails to give a straight answer.
Most of his answers were evasive, repetitive & waffly, with very little substance.
For example, in this clip he is asked about the stop order on FFP3 masks in June 2020, but fails to give a straight answer.
At times, his evidence revealed how little he knew about what had actually happened, right under his nose…
For example, we know from Lisa Ritchie’s evidence that the IPC Cell (the group tasked with writing the IPC guidance) was led by nurses & predominantly made up of nurses…
…yet Wormald was adamant during his testimony that IPC guidance was written by medically qualified doctors.
…yet Wormald was adamant during his testimony that IPC guidance was written by medically qualified doctors.
I’ve also looked back to his testimony from Nov 2023 when we heard about a WhatsApp exchange with his then-boss, Mark Sedwill, on 12 March 2020.
Sedwill wrote: “Presumably, like chickenpox, we want people to get it and develop herd immunity...”
Wormald replied: “Exactly right.”
Sedwill wrote: “Presumably, like chickenpox, we want people to get it and develop herd immunity...”
Wormald replied: “Exactly right.”
In a message later that day, @Dominic2306 Cummings wrote:
“Sedwill babbling about chickenpox, god f***ing help us”.
Cummings also told the Inquiry:
“…it made us think: who on earth is briefing the most important official in the country along these lines. This is terrifying.”
“Sedwill babbling about chickenpox, god f***ing help us”.
Cummings also told the Inquiry:
“…it made us think: who on earth is briefing the most important official in the country along these lines. This is terrifying.”
@Dominic2306 During his testimony, Sir Chris Wormald tried to dodge the blame for endorsing the herd immunity strategy by saying what was written in this message was “pretty much identical to what Sir Patrick Vallance says at the COBRA meeting”…
…but that is demonstrably untrue...
…but that is demonstrably untrue...
@Dominic2306 Evidence shows that Sir Patrick Vallance was giving clear warnings to the contrary at this time:
“We MUST change course. We MUST suppress this virus. It’s going to overwhelm us.”
Apparently Wormald was “incandescent” at Sir Patrick for saying this & gave him a “ticking off”.
“We MUST change course. We MUST suppress this virus. It’s going to overwhelm us.”
Apparently Wormald was “incandescent” at Sir Patrick for saying this & gave him a “ticking off”.
Here’s the exact quote from Sir Patrick’s diary:
“I dropped a bombshell of needing to move fast, I got a ticking off indirectly from the permanent secretary of the DHSC [Wormald] who was incandescent”.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/0…
“I dropped a bombshell of needing to move fast, I got a ticking off indirectly from the permanent secretary of the DHSC [Wormald] who was incandescent”.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/0…
After news broke about Wormald’s promotion this week, @Dominic2306 Cummings tweeted:
“Many officials came to me in panic when they realised [Wormald] truly believed that the faster everyone got Covid, the better. He is now in charge of the entire system. Plan accordingly!”
“Many officials came to me in panic when they realised [Wormald] truly believed that the faster everyone got Covid, the better. He is now in charge of the entire system. Plan accordingly!”
https://twitter.com/dominic2306/status/1863583896098464134
@Dominic2306 Cummings also added further insight as to what went on behind closed doors back in March 2020…
“Wormald wrote to the Cabinet Secretary - what's the point of doing anything much, the NHS will be smashed anyway, we just have to accept 500k-1m dead with our 'world leading' plan.”
“Wormald wrote to the Cabinet Secretary - what's the point of doing anything much, the NHS will be smashed anyway, we just have to accept 500k-1m dead with our 'world leading' plan.”
https://twitter.com/dominic2306/status/1863578417767043561
@Dominic2306 There’s also something rather “jarring” about these two facts:
1. A Covid corruption commissioner has just been appointed.
2. Chris Wormald was the top official in the DHSC which oversaw the awarding of the dodgy PPE contracts - and he’s just been promoted to Cabinet Secretary.
1. A Covid corruption commissioner has just been appointed.
2. Chris Wormald was the top official in the DHSC which oversaw the awarding of the dodgy PPE contracts - and he’s just been promoted to Cabinet Secretary.
https://twitter.com/peston/status/1863852077908136101
@Dominic2306 If this thread has piqued your interest and you’d like to learn more about the shocking evidence emerging from the Covid Inquiry, please take a peek at this megathread which walks you through some of the key moments from various witnesses during module 3…
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https://twitter.com/_catinthehat/status/1860781843244634365
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