Politics
Ellie Abraham
Oct 31, 2023
Reuters
With the Covid inquiry underway, the criticism of Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic is pretty damning.
When the pandemic began in 2020, then-Prime Minister Johnson was tasked with managing the government’s response to the unprecedented events.
Now, scathing evidence has emerged about his leadership, with one allegation appearing to suggest the PM called long covid “b*****ks”.
In further information to emerge from the inquiry, messages sent between Johnson’s top reveal that the PM “flip-flopped” every day on direction and made it “impossible” to tackle the pandemic.
The messages were shared between cabinet secretary Simon Case, the chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance and Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings.
Getty Images
In September 2020, Case sent Cummings a message that said Johnson “cannot lead”, adding that the PM “changes strategic direction every day”.
Case added: “[Government] isn’t actually that hard but this guy is really making it impossible.”
In response to Johnson’s approach to just “let it rip” as the virus ran riot, Case wrote: “I am at the end of my tether. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day … IT HAS TO STOP!”
The revelations have stunned and shocked members of the public, who have been left angered by the government’s actions.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK campaign group shared on X/Twitter: “It was hard to keep up with the number of horrific revelations that came out of the Covid Inquiry.”
They continued in their thread: “Johnson was calling the elderly ‘bed blockers’, asking ‘why are we destroying the economy for people who will die anyway soon?’ and skipping COBR meetings because of half term.
“While No. 10 squabbled, they resigned themselves to a staggering scale of deaths across the country.”
Johnson was calling the elderly \u201cbed blockers\u201d, asking "why are we destroying the economy for people who will die anyway soon?\u201d and skipping COBR meetings because of half term. \n\nWhile No. 10 squabbled, they resigned themselves to a staggering scale of deaths across the country.— (@)
Others were left similarly outraged by the revelations.
Another person argued that, with the correspondence coming out in the evidence, it is no wonder the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was Chancellor at the time, does not want his WhatsApp messages revealed.
Dominic Cummings is giving evidence at the Covid inquiry today (October 31).
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