Ministers feared Covid would be ‘federalist Trojan horse’ for devolved nations

Ministers in Westminster feared Covid could become a “federalist Trojan horse” due to the closer working relationships with leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Senior government figures including the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, were concerned about the amount of influence applied from outside Whitehall, according to documents submitted to the second module of the Covid inquiry.

In evidence shown today, Johnson claimed it was “optically wrong” for him to hold regular meetings with the leaders of the devolved nations.

Doing so, he said, risked making the UK appear a “mini EU”, adding: “That is not, in my view, how devolution is supposed to work.”

Those in London also appeared concerned by what potential “self-serving” motives their counterparts outside England might have for taking an active role in the pandemic response.

Professor Ailsa Henderson, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science, branded the evidence “the most remarkable document I have read in a number of years”.

“The phrase ‘potential Federalist Trojan horse’ jumps out, she told today’s hearings, “but also [that] the devolved administrations were ‘exposed’ to UK government decision-making, as if being in the room and listening to what the UK government was going to do was enough.

“It's also clear the secretary of state for Scotland thought weekly contact was too frequent and certainly didn't want it to roll on after Covid.

“There's a clear effort to control or handle one of the first ministers – in particular there's a fear of federalism; there's a fear of leaks; there's a perceived kind of venality or self-serving nature to the motives of the devolved administrations.”

‘People were constraining what they were saying’ in presence of leaders and officials from the devolved nations

In WhatsApp messages, Johnson’s former adviser, Dominic Cummings, advised the prime minister to chair daily meetings from Downing Street’s Cabinet Room and not “with the DAs [devolved administrations] on the fuckign [sic] phone all the time either so people can’t tell you the truth”.

Inquiry counsel Andrew O’Connor asked Henderson whether this suggested the developed ministers were not considered “trusted partners” by Westminster.

Henderson said it was unclear exactly what the messages suggested, but added it implied “people were constraining what they were saying” in the presence of leaders and officials from the devolved nations.

The second phase of the inquiry, which is on the UK’s initial response to the pandemic, started last week with a suggestion that the government could be judged on the number of deaths over the course of the pandemic. Earlier today, witnesses claimed disabled people had been an “afterthought” in the UK’s initial response to Covid-19.

The inquiry continues.