Michael Gove suggests Covid was man-made during inquiry
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has criticised the Covid inquiry after it shut down Michael Gove for raising the lab leak theory at yesterday’s hearing.
Mr Gove had been explaining that the fact the virus may have been manmade impacted on the quality of the Government’s response.
However he was quickly shut down by the inquiry’s top lawyer, who said such remarks were “somewhat divisive, so we’re not going to go there”.
Sir Jacob has now demanded to know why the inquiry is refusing to address the question of a lab leak being the cause of the pandemic.
Speaking on GB News, he said the origin of SARS-CoV-2 should be at the heart of the “very expensive” inquiry.
READ MORE: Michael Gove cut off at Covid inquiry after suggesting virus was man-made
Mr Rees-Mogg sided with his former Cabinet colleague (Image: Getty)
He said: “Why wasn’t the question of the lab leak theory included in the terms of reference of the inquiry? It’s the foundational question.
“Yet this very expensive inquiry just wants to conclude that we should have locked down sooner and more brutally.
“Anything that does not fit in with its predetermined narrative is excluded including the source of the virus.
“If we are to restore public trust in a post-Covid world, the question of the lab leak must be at the forefront of the Covid inquiry and we must also ensure that lockdowns never happen again.”
Sir Jacob also explained the history of the theory, saying it was once considered “a loony-tune idea” but has since become “the most probable source” of the outbreak.
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Mr Gove was shut down when mentioning the lab leak theory (Image: Covid inquiry)
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In March 2020 a group of scientists signed a letter condemning the “conspiracy theories” around the virus’ origin being the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
However it later emerged that one of the letter’s key signatories, Peter Daszak, was head of a group that worked directly with that Wuhan institute.
Sir Jacob said it “was a clear conflict of interest”.
He also reminded viewers President Donald Trump raised the claims of a lab leak, but was lambasted as a conspiracy theorist too.
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He said: “In February 2021 the World Health Organization suggested the lab leak theory was ‘extremely unlikely’, despite serious questions about the limited access permitted by the Chinese Communist Party for the investigation.
“It later emerged that American Federal funding was provided to the Wuhan Institute of virology for virus research. A dispute just took place between Senator Rand Paul and Anthony Fucci over whether funding could have been used to create COVID like viruses.
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“And now we know that two US agencies, the Department of Energy and the FBI, have concluded with some confidence that the virus originated in a lab.
“The evidence clearly points to the likelihood that the virus came from a lab.
“In other words, the conspiracy theorists seemed to have been on the right track.”
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