Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

I was ‘kept in the dark’ about early response to pandemic: Khan

London's mayor says Downing Street ignored his repeated requests to attend emergency Cobra meetings in March 2020

I was ‘kept in the dark’ about early response to pandemic: Khan

LONDON’S mayor Sadiq Khan has accused the government of keeping him “in the dark” about its early response to the coronavirus pandemic and claimed many “lives could have been saved” had he been in the loop then.

He told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Monday (27) that Downing Street ignored his repeated requests to attend the emergency Cobra meetings in March 2020 to discuss ways to contain the infections.

Official data shows 196,691 people died of the disease in England since the start of the pandemic, with most deaths reported between March 2020 and April 2021.

While a 2021 parliamentary report said the government waited for too long to impose a national lockdown, Christopher Wormald, the chief civil servant at the Department of Health and Social Care insisted the timeline of measures was “completely rational” at the time.

In his testimony on Monday, Khan said, “I can see no explanation at all why… the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.”

“I had been kept in the dark as the elected Mayor of London and I felt almost winded in relation to what was happening in London and also realising there were things we could have done in relation to some of these issues.”

He said, “I was alarmed by what I was being told in relation to where we were and where we may go to. I will never forget that sort of feeling of lack of power, lack of influence, not knowing what was happening in our city.”

He said then prime minister Boris Johnson ignored his advice for a “circuit-breaker” to contain the rapidly rising infection rates and this necessitated “a second lockdown” which was imposed on November 5, 2020.

“Before lockdown one, we knew what was happening around the world. We delayed and we dithered. Lockdown two may not have even been needed had the government taken the advice from Sage for example, for a circuit breaker and lobbying from people like me,” the mayor said.

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less