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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Ben Quinn

Covid inquiry chair rejects journalist’s fear of ‘colossal whitewash’

The former high court judge Lady Hallett.
Lady Hallett, a former high court judge, is presiding over the public Covid inquiry. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

The Covid-19 public inquiry’s chair has insisted the investigation will not be a “whitewash”, after a journalist claimed that concern over its integrity had prompted her to publish private messages shared with her by Matt Hancock.

Heather Hallett delivered an implicit rebuke to Isabel Oakeshott after Oakeshott leaked 100,000 WhatsApp messages involving the former health secretary from the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which are claimed to show he dismissed expert advice to test anyone entering a care home for coronavirus.

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