At long last, Simon Case has received his hearing date for the UK Covid Inquiry. The most senior civil servant in the country was initially excluded from the Inquiry for health reasons, but now that he’s back and fighting fit, the top mandarin has been told to appear in front of Baroness Hallett on 23 May 2024. Incidentally, it’s the same day that Paula Vennells is due to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry. The phrase ‘dead cat’ comes to mind…
Case became the youngest ever Cabinet Secretary when he was appointed by Boris Johnson in 2020, but perhaps his relative youth made him a little too savvy at — and reliant on — advising by the new-fangled medium of WhatsApp. He’s certainly had his fair share of messaging disasters exposed by recent leaks. Let’s take a look at the top five.
Mocking quarantined travellers
As one of the people working with in the centre of government during the pandemic, Case might have been expected to exercise at least a little empathy with the population upon which he was helping force strict lockdown rules.
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