Overview
- He said key pandemic choices were made centrally by No 10 and the Cabinet Office, leaving his department little scope to consult or plan for closures.
- He testified that the plan to shut schools in March 2020 was commissioned and written overnight after a sudden shift in direction.
- He criticised Boris Johnson’s May 2020 phased‑return announcement as damaging, saying it created false hope under social distancing limits.
- He acknowledged the 2020 GCSE and A-level grading model was "quite clearly wrong" after Ofqual reassurances failed to anticipate individual harm.
- Evidence included a February 2021 WhatsApp to Johnson saying he was "completely f****d over" by closure decisions and blindsided by Kevan Collins’s appointment.