Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s former chief scientific officer, is to give evidence to the Covid inquiry.

The advisor, one of the Government’s most senior officials during the pandemic, will answer questions at hearings on Monday morning and afternoon.

Last month, the public inquiry heard that Number 10 tried to “strong-arm” Sir Patrick and the chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty into taking part in a press conference following Dominic Cummings’s trip to Barnard Castle in lockdown.

The inquiry was also handed excerpts of Sir Patrick’s diary during the pandemic which criticised how science was “cherry picked” and lashed out at “bullish, bipolar Boris [Johnson]”.

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