Simon Case, the country’s top civil servant, will be placed on sick leave for several weeks, the government has confirmed.
The 44-year-old cabinet secretary will leave his post as head of the UK civil service due to personal health issues but is expected to return later this year.
The Prime Minister will inform the Cabinet of Ministers about this this week. policywho first reported this story.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The Cabinet Secretary is taking a short break on personal medical matters and will return to work in a few weeks.”
Mr Case was due to appear at the Covid inquiry in early November to answer questions about his role in the Government’s response to the 2020 pandemic.
The investigation previously uncovered WhatsApp messages in which Mr Case branded Boris Johnson’s then-government a “horrible, tragic joke” over the then prime minister’s handling of the virus outbreak.
It is not known whether Mr Case’s appearance at Lady Hallett’s inquest will be rescheduled for a later hearing, which ends on December 14.
Mr Case’s leave for an undisclosed medical reason comes as the prime minister faces a turbulent period in his government following two by-election defeats last week and questions over his domestic agenda ahead of the election. The King’s Speech and Autumn Statement next month.
Mr Sunak is also grappling with the first major foreign policy crisis of his prime minister’s anniversary this Wednesday as he continues his diplomatic efforts to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from escalating into a regional war.
Mr Case was a senior official seconded to Downing Street in spring 2020 from the royal household, where he was private secretary to Prince William.
Mr Case’s career also includes serving on the UK’s Brexit negotiating team and serving as GCHQ’s director of strategy.
In September 2020, Mr Johnson appointed him cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.
He found himself at the center of several scandals that plagued Johnson’s government. He suspended the Partygate investigation when it emerged that he had attended some rallies, although no violations of the law were found and he refused to resign.
Whitehall permanent secretaries were informed of the furlough last week.
The Covid inquiry heard earlier this month that Mr Case had WhatsApped then No 10 communications director Lee Cain saying he was “screaming” after Mr Johnson put forward a plan to introduce a short lockdown ” circuit breaker”, which should be introduced in the fall. 2020.
Mr. Case wrote: “Whoever Carrie is, [Johnson] I think he’s worried,” adding that the then prime minister’s wife was a “real responsible person.” He wrote: “This government does not have the credibility to deliver results within days of a decision being made against it. “We look like a terrible, tragic joke.”
Source: I News
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