Testimony of government’s former chief scientific adviser, whose diary provides a vital chronicle of the pandemic, is eagerly awaited

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Among the most eagerly awaited testimony at the official inquiry into how the UK handled the Covid pandemic is not from a politician, but from the scientist – at the centre of decision-making who, it later emerged, kept a detailed diary.

Sir Patrick Vallance, who is giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday, was the UK government’s chief scientific adviser for a five-year term that ended in April this year, taking him all the way through the Covid period.