'We Are F****d': Downing Street Official's Grim Assessment As First Covid Wave Hit UK

Dr David Halpern's note, as amended by Downing Street official Ben WarnerA senior Downing Street official said the UK was “fucked” because it was so ill-prepared for the first wave of the Covid pandemic.Ben Warner scribbled the word on a note written by a colleague as panic set in at the top of government.The revelation came at the Covid Inquiry, which today took evidence from Dr David Halpern, head of the government’s behavioural insights team, commonly known as the “nudge unit”.The inquiry was shown a note by Halpern on the UK’s preparedness for the pandemic. At the bottom, in capital letters, he had written: “We are not ready.”Warner, who was a special adviser to Boris Johnson at the time, drew a line through “not ready” and replaced it with “fucked”.Dermot Keating, "You wrote: WE ARE NOT READY"Dr David Halpern, "I did, in capital letters"Keating, "And a No 10 colleague leaned over, crossed out your entry, and what was written instead?"Halpern, "WE ARE F*CKED"Keating, "Did that repr