Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

We've just seen a set of WhatsApp messages involving Simon Case, the country's top civil servant.

They're from the day after he was forced to recuse himself from the Partygate probe - because it had emerged one event had taken place in his office.

Case makes it clear he is "flipping pissed off". He says he is "being attacked for something trivial which I wasn't involved in... I have to carry the can as the boss".

Martin Reynolds - the PM's private principal private secretary who is best known for a BYOB event invite - tells Case: "Sure it will all blow through".

Image source, Crown copyright

You can watch every moment of the Covid inquiry by pressing the Play button at the top of this page.

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Image source, Covid inquiry

Martin Reynolds says he has given his WhatsApps in full to the inquiry, as Hugo Keith KC continues to question him about the origins of the inquiry itself.

He says he cannot specifically recall and would only be speculating on a date when the government began thinking about the need for an inquiry.

But, Reynolds accepts - based on evidence via Sir Patrick Vallance's journals and diaries - there was discussion of a public inquiry which appeared at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.

Keith then reads out a statement Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave to Parliament on May 2021, external about the latest on the government's response to Covid.

He quotes Johnson saying: "This inquiry must be able to look at the events of the past year in the cold light of day and identify the key issues that will make a difference for the future.

"It will be free to scrutinise every document, to hear from all the key players, and to analyse and learn from the breadth of our response.

"That is the right way, I think, to get the answers that the people of this country deserve, and to ensure that our United Kingdom is better prepared for any future pandemic."

Martin Reynolds is asked about the policy for keeping private messages on Whatsapp and email accounts for Downing Street.

As private secretary, Reynolds says he would have been aware of these policies.

He says in this period, meaning early 2020, the use of Whatsapp became more extensive.

However, he says decisions were "taking place in the normal way", and not over Whatsapp. These are exchanges which people "could have been doing previously in phone calls and in corridors".

"You're not suggesting are you that the vast majority of these Covid related WhatsApps are irrelevant?" Hugo Keith KC asks.

On this, Baroness Hallett also asks why Whatsapps aren't part of the decision making process, to which Reynolds says these are just fleeting discussions.

Image source, Covid inquiry

The questioning of Martin Reynolds begins with some queries from the inquiry lawyer, Hugo Keith KC, about Reynold's career. He's then quizzed on staff communications - specifically the retention of emails and WhatsApp messages.

We'll bring you any key lines on this page.

Jim Reed
Health reporter, BBC News

Baroness Hallett, the chair of this inquiry, starts with a statement reminding witnesses and core participants they have an obligation not to share material provided by the inquiry before it is entered into evidence.

It comes after a series of leaks of WhatsApp messages and other evidence, including messages apparently from the cabinet secretary Simon Case.

That material is shared with other witnesses and dozens of other interested parties in advance so they can prepare for testimony and questioning.

"It is for me to decide which witnesses to call [and] which documents to publish," she said at the start of the hearing today.

It only assists "those with an agenda" if this material is shared with the media before publication, she added.

Image source, PA Media

Martin Reynolds has just been sworn in as the day's first witness.

He was the principal private secretary to Boris Johnson - who was then prime minister - from 2019 until he resigned in February 2022.

He was caught up in the Partygate scandal when it emerged he had written an email inviting around 200 colleagues to “socially-distanced drinks” during the first lockdown.

He was named 24 times in Sue Gray’s report into the events, external, attending some of the gatherings himself while helping to organise two of them, and earning him the nickname 'Party Marty'.

After a "bring your own booze" event in May 2020, he exchanged WhatsApp messages with a unnamed No 10 special adviser in which he wrote: "We seem to have got away with [it]."

He quit his Downing Street role in February 2022 in the aftermath of the scandal and was given an Order of the Bath award for public service in Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Today's session of the Covid inquiry is starting, with some initial remarks from Baroness Hallett.

Martin Reynolds will be the first witness. He was a key member of former PM Boris Johnson's core team during the pandemic.

You can watch him giving his evidence by pressing the play button at the top of this page.

This public inquiry was launched by Boris Johnson in May 2021 and it covers decision-making in Westminster and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

You might be wondering what the overall aim of a public inquiry is? Well, in this case, it aims to respond to "public concern" about events.

Any inquiry has the power to make people appear as witnesses, and to provide evidence. They’re also expected to publish conclusions and may make recommendations.

Jim Reed
Health reporter, BBC News

This second phase – or module – of the inquiry looks at the political decisions made during the pandemic, from January 2020 to February 2022.

We have already heard evidence from some of the most senior scientists advising ministers at the time:

• Prof Neil Ferguson from Imperial College said he had become “extremely concerned” about the data in March 2020 and criticised a “lack of urgency” in government at the time
• Another senior scientific adviser, Prof Graham Medley from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said that it was clear as early as February 2020 that the NHS would be overwhelmed without stronger action
• But Prof Mark Woolhouse from the University of Edinburgh told the inquiry that, with hindsight, he questioned whether it was necessary to impose tough legal restrictions, given that public behaviour was already changing voluntarily at the time

You can catch up with evidence from both the first and second stages of the inquiry on the Covid inquiry podcast on BBC sounds.

Here's a quick reminder of some of the key things to know about the UK's Covid inquiry:

• It’s being chaired by Baroness Hallett - a former Court of Appeal judge who previously led the inquests into the 7 July London bombings in 2005
• The names of people giving evidence will be announced for each week - they include key politicians, scientists, unions, health and care organisations, Covid bereavement groups and more
• Members of the public are being encouraged to share their stories with the inquiry by filling in this form online, external
• No-one will be found guilty or innocent during this inquiry
• This is about going through what happened and learning lessons
• Any recommendations made by the inquiry at the end of this process do not have to be adopted by governments

Image source, PA Media

The first phase of the Covid inquiry, which looked at how prepared the UK was for the pandemic, ended in June.

Now we’re in the last week of the second phase of hearings, examining UK decision making and political governance during the pandemic, which will see several senior former Downing Street employees give evidence.

Dominic Cummings, a former senior aide to Boris Johnson, is appearing tomorrow. But here’s who we’re seeing today - and when.

From 10:30

• Martin Reynolds: Former principal private secretary (PPS) to former prime minister Boris Johnson
• Imran Shafi: Former private secretary to the prime minister for public services

From around 14:00

• Lee Cain: Former director of communications for Johnson

Andrew Humphrey
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Hello, you join us as we near the end of the Covid inquiry's second phase - but before that can happen we have a few key players to hear from.

Today, Boris Johnson's former principal private secretary (PPS) Martin Reynolds is scheduled to give evidence, followed by Imran Shafi - another private secretary to the PM - and then Lee Cain. Cain was the communications director at No 10 during a portion of the pandemic.

Reynolds and Cain face potentially tough questions after they were caught up in their own Covid-related issues.

Tomorrow we’ll hear from Dominic Cummings, who was Johnson’s chief adviser until November 2020.

The inquiry’s been conducting public hearings since June and we’ve covered some - but not all - of them with live coverage.

Today, though, there’ll be text coverage and a stream of the proceedings, which you can watch live at the top of the page by clicking the Play button.