Sir Chris Whitty has been accused of ‘obscene hypocrisy’ after privately supporting a doctor who broke Covid rules during the height of the lockdown.
While the public was told to wash their hands and stay at home, Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood was on a train visiting her second home.
And now it has emerged that Sir Chris, England’s chief medical officer and the man who handed down the rules, supported her behind closed doors.
Other senior officials, such as Sir Jonathan Van Tam, also told Dr Calderwood via WhatsApp that she was ‘doing a fantastic job’, while Sir Michael McBride, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, urged Dr Calderwood to ‘ignore’ the damning reports ‘.
Sir Chris, who remains England’s Chief Medical Officer, had said prior to Calderwood’s resignation that he agreed with a message from Sir Frank Atherton, Wales’ Chief Medical Officer, who criticized a story in The Sun which showed that she had broken the rules.
England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, leaves after giving evidence for Module 3 at the UK Covid-19 inquiry at Dorland House in London
A map shows the distance between Dr.’s two houses. Calderwood – Earlsferry, Fife, is 45 miles from Edinburgh – a drive of about an hour. Calderwood traveled this distance to visit her second home, despite strict Covid rules preventing this at the time
Dr. Calderwood resigned later that day after a hard-to-watch press conference she gave with Ms Sturgeon, in which Scotland’s then chief medical officer struggled to defend her own actions.
She apologized on live TV after receiving a police warning for twice visiting her family’s seaside resort in Earlsferry, Fife, more than 40 miles from her main home, adding that her actions were ‘a mistake and human error’ and that there were ‘no excuses’. .
Responding to recent revelations, the lead lawyer for Scotland’s Covid Bereaved group, Aamer Anwar, said Britain’s top medical officials had shown ‘obscene hypocrisy’, the Telegraph reports.
He said: ‘While mere mortals faced persecution, were unable to attend funerals or were denied the right to be with loved ones as they drew their last breaths, individuals like Dr Calderwood have been exposed time and time again for their shameful arrogance and double standards . .
“Public trust has been so eroded by the actions of some of our officials and politicians that it is difficult to imagine ordinary people following the rules in an inevitable future pandemic.”
Dr. Calderwood was initially backed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to remain in the role.
But after further discussions with Ms Sturgeon, the doctor ultimately said she had resigned ‘with a heavy heart’ as she agreed that ‘the justified focus on my behavior risks becoming a distraction from the hugely important job ‘.
Scotland’s First Minister said it was ‘far from ideal’ to lose the expertise of Dr Catherine Calderwood.
Ms Sturgeon added that she was ‘trying to make the best judgement’ after initially trying to find Dr. Calderwood in his post before finally admitting she had to go.
MailOnline has contacted Sir Chris Whitty for comment.