Johnson aides lay bare 'Covid chaos and dysfunction'

TWO of Boris Johnson’s closest aides have laid bare the chaos and dysfunction in Government as coronavirus presented the biggest crisis the UK has seen since 1945.

Dominic Cummings told the official inquiry there was no shielding plan early in the pandemic and vulnerable groups were “appallingly neglected” as a “fatalistic” approach took hold.

The former chief adviser to the then prime minister said strict border controls and the rapid expansion of testing could have had a “much better” outcome for saving lives and the economy than lockdowns.

Lee Cain, who was No 10’s director of communications, repeatedly cited Mr Johnson’s tendency to “oscillate” between decisions as delaying the response, which he said was the “wrong crisis” for him to deal with as prime minister.

The inquiry also saw diary entries from Sir Patrick Vallance showing that Mr Johnson suggested he believed the pandemic was “Nature’s way of dealing with old people” as he resisted lockdowns.