Pressure on Johnson over Covid messages

Boris Johnson asked why damage was being inflicted on the economy during the pandemic "for people who will die anyway soon" in a meeting with the chancellor at the time, Rishi Sunak, the Covid inquiry was told yesterday

- Ben Quinn

At the start of what is expected to be a bruising week for the former prime minister, with former political aides and senior civil servants to give evidence on his government's handling of the pandemic, the diary of a former private secretary revealed the damaging remarks made in March 2020.

The note was from a meeting during which Johnson was believed to have commented: "We're killing the patient to tackle the tumour. Large ppl [taken to mean large numbers of people] who will die, why are we destroying economy for people who will die anyway soon." Imran Shafi, the official who wrote the memo, told the inquiry he thought it was Johnson who had made the comments.

Earlier, the inquiry heard how a series of diary entries and WhatsApp messages suggested the low regard in which the former Tory leader was held by senior advisers.

Whitehall's highest ranking civil servant, Simon Case, complained that Johnson "cannot lead" and wanted to "let it rip" when it came to crucial choices over how the UK should handle Covid-19, the inquiry heard. The WhatsApp message was sent to Dominic Cummings, then Johnson's chief adviser, by the cabinet secretary, who confided in the midst of an oscillating government response to the pandemic: "I am at the end of my tether." 

Case, who is expected to appear as a witness at the inquiry, added: "He changes strategic direction every day (Monday we were all about fear of virus returning as per Europe, March etc - today we're in 'let it rip' mode cos [sic] the UK is pathetic, needs a cold shower etc.)."