Covid Inquiry: Boris Johnson faces criticism over Covid messages

Boris Johnson questioned “why the economy was being harmed during the pandemic for people who will die anyway soon" in a conversation with Rishi Sunak, the Covid inquiry heard on Monday.

The diary of a former private secretary revealed the embarrassing remarks made in March 2020, at the start of what is poised to be a traumatic week for the former prime minister, with former political advisers and top public servants to give testimony on his government's handling of the pandemic.

The memo came from a conference in which Johnson was claimed to have declared, "We're killing the patient to get rid of the tumour. Why are we wrecking the economy for people who will die anyway soon?”


For this the former prime minister faces much criticism for his inhuman statement. The staffer who authored the document, Imran Shafi, told the panel that he believed Johnson made the comments. It came after a series of diary entries and WhatsApp exchanges revealed key aides' disdain for the former Tory leader.

According to the probe into the epidemic, Whitehall's highest ranking civil servant, Simon Case, complained that Johnson "cannot lead" and wanted to "let it rip" when it came to making critical decisions about how the UK should address Covid-19.

The cabinet secretary, who was at the time Johnson's main adviser, sent the WhatsApp message to Dominic Cummings, who confided in the midst of an erratic government response to the pandemic.

Martin Reynolds, Johnson's principal private secretary at No 10, was previously questioned about why he enabled the disappearing messages function on a WhatsApp group that included Johnson and his most senior aides just weeks before the then-Prime Minister announced the Covid-19 inquiry.

Reynolds told the inquiry's lead lawyer, Hugo Keith KC, that he did not believe he did so in April 2021 to prevent the inquiry from seeing the messages in a WhatsApp group called "PM Updates”. He explained that he did that because he was concerned that some of the interactions might be used or screen recorded and leaked.

The panel was also informed of another WhatsApp message sent by Case to Reynolds, in which the former said Johnson was "mad" if he did not believe his WhatsApp chats would be made public during the Covid investigation.

Reynolds' appearance came as the inquiry entered a week of hugely significant and potentially damning testimony that could cast a deeply unforgiving light on the inner workings of Johnson's government, with Cummings and the former No 10 communications chief, Lee Cain, scheduled to testify this week.

FAQs:

Q1: Who is the current UK Prime Minister?
Ans. Rishi Sunak.

Q2: How old is Boris Johnson?
Ans. He is 59 years old.