The Cheltenham Festival is underway again this week, and will be enjoyed by many albeit the price of a pint of Guinness is up to £7.80. Five years ago this week however it went ahead despite concerns that it would lead to the spread of COVID19.
The various inquiries into how the pandemic was dealt with by Governments of the four UK Nations have thrown up interesting and often concerning details. The Welsh inquiry in particular added some useful detail.
Boris Johnson announced a national lockdown on Monday 23rd March. Many thought that this was a week too late and led to more COVID cases. In reality football matches were already being cancelled and a rugby match between Wales and Scotland in Cardiff on 13th March was called off.
Yet Cheltenham went ahead as did, in Wales, Stereophonic gigs on 14th and 15th March.
BBC Report 13th March
At the Inquiry Welsh FM Mark Drakeford has explained why such events were not officially called off. The answer in short was because Dominic Cummings vetoed the plan:
Recalling a Cobra meeting on 12 March, Drakeford says Johnson said “Dom says no” when the prospect of cancelling mass gatherings was discussed.
Calling off mass gatherings was widely regarded by scientific advisers as the hardest intervention to call, especially outdoor ones.
Drakeford says he thought they were an unwelcome distraction for emergency services and worried about the contradiction around public messaging.
The Cheltenham Festival was in its third day while this meeting took place, while Stereophonics played two shows in Cardiff on 14 and 15 March.
“I argued at this Cobra meeting for us to agree that mass gatherings should not go ahead. I argued as strongly as I could,” Drakeford says.
He says Johnson went around the room taking views from anyone who wanted to contribute.
Mr Drakeford says he had a vivid memory of the discussion because having gone around the table, the prime minister summed up against that course of action by saying “Dom says no”.
“I didn’t know who Dom (Dominic Cummings, the PM’s then chief political adviser) was at this point,” Drakeford says.
Leave a Reply