Covid Inquiry: An entertaining circus of backstabbing and saving face

It's been almost four years since Covid reached the UK, and frankly many people are sick and tired of hearing about it.

"Let it go," they say. We can't change the past, they tell us, and despite the many tragic deaths they are happy to see the end of it. But Covid-19 is still around - albeit in a much lesser role - and there are lessons to be learned from the pandemic itself.

That is what the UK's Covid Inquiry has set out to achieve, and in just its second phase so much has already been uncovered. From a belief that the government reacted "too late" to coronavirus to serious questions about then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's leadership, the country will surely be far more prepared the next time a generational crisis like this comes around.

But while watching the live streams, one thing has become abundantly clear - everyone is stabbing each other in the back, and desperate to save their own skin. From politicians to health officials, those who were in charge go before the panel with one goal in mind; protecting their own future.

Boris Johnson is believed to have deleted WhatsApp messages between himself and his top advisers, who urged him to take the pandemic more seriously. Those same top advisers then spilled the beans on not being spoken to about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. And then there was Dominic Cummings, who took to the stand like a giddy teenage schoolgirl with some hot gossip for her fellow Mean Girls.

He revealed that Boris Johnson had been nicknamed "Trolley" in Downing Street due to his instability in decision-making, and while maintaining a poker face you couldn't help but think he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat on the inside.

It's been great to see everyone speaking so frankly about the pandemic, but some of the gossipy backstabbing would probably be best left at the door. Entertaining, mind you...