London Mayor Sadiq Khan speaking at Covid Inquiry
He's said he was 'kept in the dark' about key information
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry he had been "kept in the dark" by the Government and could have done more if he had been invited to Cobra meetings in February and early March.
Mr Khan was invited to a Cobra meeting on March 16 2020, after previous requests to attend had been denied, where he was told details of the situation in London that he described as "really serious".
He said:
"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."
"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."
Asked by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett what more he could have done if the Government had told him what was happening earlier, he said: "Some of the things that happened subsequently.
"So it was me that lobbied the prime minister to go to lockdown, it was me that lobbied the prime minister in relation to the inability to keep social distance on public transport so people shouldn't be using public transport unless they had to."
Sadiq Khan said he cancelled London'sSt Patrick's Day parade in 2020 after a "shocking" meeting with Chris Whitty.
Mr Khan told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry he had requested a meeting with Professor Whitty, the chief medical officer, to discuss Covid-19 and was told there would be a "global pandemic" with London expected to suffer "really serious" consequences in two or three weeks.
He said:
"Although I had read the phrase 'global pandemic', Chris Whitty telling me there was going to be a global pandemic was shocking to me."
"It was clear from what Chris Whitty was saying that the impact on London was going to be huge."
Sadiq Khan has said he was "disappointed" that the Government did not provide him with more information about Covid in February 2020.
He said the Greater London Authority was "chasing the Government for information", but he had not been doing this in February because he "wasn't aware how serious it was".
Mr Khan said:
"The Government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I'm disappointed the Government weren't giving us information in February about what they knew then."