Rishi Sunak does not deny bypassing scientific advisers over Eat Out to Help Out scheme

Rishi Sunak has not denied that he bypassed scientific advisors over the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, despite previously saying he had followed expert advice ahead of the plan.

However, at Wednesday's Covid Inquiry chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty said he and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, were never told about the plan.

He added: “I think we should have been.”

When asked if he had been consulted on the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said: “Absolutely not, the first I heard about it was on TV.”

When asked at PMQs if he was telling the truth when he told the Covid inquiry he had taken advice from scientists about the scheme, Mr Sunak did not deny sidestepping experts and said he would be giving his own evidence in the future.

Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West said: “On Monday the government’s (former) chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance told the Covid inquiry that the now-prime minister had not asked for advice regarding Eat Out to Help Out.

“But on March 9 two years ago, the prime minister told this House that, and I quote, 'at all steps in the crisis we have taken the advice of our scientific advisers'. Who is right?”

Mr Sunak said: “As he knows, there is an ongoing statutory inquiry into Covid.

"It’s absolutely right that that process is followed. I look forward to providing my own evidence in the coming weeks and addressing all these questions.

“But it was the case that the government took advice from scientific advisers, and again, that’s exactly what this inquiry will go over.”

At Wednesday's Covid Inquiry, Sir Chris Whitty said he had raised objections to Number 10 over how the issue was handled.

Sir Chris said: "My written statement makes clear there was no consultation.

“I was unsurprised that the Treasury and many other ministries were coming up with those schemes – it is perfectly legitimate.

“Number 10 held the ring and… so it may well be correct that the prime minister was under the impression we had been consulted, but it was not the fact that we were consulted and that difference, I think, is probably worth just highlighting.”

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam spoke about the “extremely hateful messages” he received during the pandemic including threats to his family about “having their throats cut”.

England’s former deputy chief medical officer said the hate mail he got led to the police becoming involved and his family being asked to temporarily move out of their home.

'I did not expect my family to be threatened with having their throats cut,' says former Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam

He told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday that while his job involves huge workloads and stress, he added: “I did not expect my family to be threatened with having their throats cut.

“I did not expect the police to have to say ‘Will you move out in the middle of the night or in the middle of the evening, whether you might move out for a few days, while we look at this and potentially make some arrests?'”

Sir Jonathan said the family did not make the move in the end because “we didn’t want to leave the cat” but described the situation as a “very stressful time indeed”.

He added: “I make this point because I’m so worried that if there’s a future crisis, people will not want to sign up for these roles and these jobs, because of the implications that come with them.”

Sir Jonathan also spoke about this workload during the early days of the pandemic, saying it was “horrendous for all of us”.

He said: “At the beginning it certainly was in the kind of 16 hours a day mark and it certainly was seven days a week. It was very, very intense.”

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