Boris Johnson’s shambolic tenure as British Prime Minister even extended to his ability to navigate Zoom calls, Patrick Vallance revealed at this year’s Hay Festival.
In an event in partnership with The Independent, chaired by editor-in-chief Geordie Greig, the former UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser described an incident during a meeting at the G7 summit in 2021, which had been called by Melinda Gates to discuss how to prevent future pandemics.
“The meeting itself was actually pretty good. I was asked to present at the G7, who were in this room in Carbis Bay, I was on the Zoom. It was the weirdest Zoom call I’ve ever been on – the other two people were [Indian PM] Narendra Modi and Melinda Gates, and then the G7,” he told the audience.
Vallance, who appeared regularly alongside Johnson and Conservative cabinet members to deliver Covid briefings to the country during the pandemic, channelled the former PM with a spookily accurate impression. “It started with the PM saying, ‘oh Patrick, Patrick, tell us about this pandemic preparedness thing’.”
“So I started speaking and he said, ‘I’m gonna stop you there, Patrick. You are, as they say these days, ‘on mute’.”
Vallance, who left his government role in 2023, was certain that he was not on mute. “Anyway, somebody came across and whispered in his ear, and he said, ‘ah, ah, I’m sorry. I haven’t got my headphones on’.”
“The other leaders did find that quite amusing,” Vallance told the Hay audience.
Now Chief Scientific Advisor for COP26 and Chair of the National History Museum, Vallance said it was “about time” for the country to have a general election, describing it as a time to ask “what sort of rulers do we want, and how do we hold them accountable in the democratic system?”
He admitted to being baffled as to why Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chose to deliver his election announcement speech outside Downing Street in the pouring rain, competing with the sound of protestors playing DR:eam’s “Things Can Only Get Better”.
“The failure to sort that out and have a system where the PM could speak and be heard is a sign of incompetence,” he said.
Asked if he felt the incident reflected on the state of the government at the moment, he said: “I think the chaos of that event was emblematic.”
In other comments, Vallance said that it was “absolutely inevitable that there would be another pandemic”, and that the UK would not be ready in such an event.
The Independent hosts The News Review at Hay Festival from 25-28 May at 10am, delving into the biggest headlines of the day with a range of leading figures from politics, arts and science. Other speakers will include Shadow Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting, campaigner and writer Laura Bates, and author Lionel Shriver.
Hay Festival continues until 2 June; hayfestival.com
