UK Prime Minister’s “complete lack of leadership” revealed in quote over inquiry into Britain’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic
A recent inquiry into Britain’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed a worrying quote from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. times of India,
According to Patrick Vallance, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, then Finance Minister Sunak reportedly said during a meeting with then Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the government should “let people die” rather than impose a second national lockdown.
Vallance made note of the meeting in her diary on October 25, 2020, which was submitted to the inquiry on Monday.
The diary also records how Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s most senior adviser during the pandemic, told Vallance what he had heard in the meeting.
Vallance quoted Cummings as saying in his diary: “The sages think let people die and that’s OK. It all seems like a complete lack of leadership.”
According to a spokesperson for Sunak, the Prime Minister will make his position clear when he gives evidence to the inquiry “rather than answering each one piecemeal”.
The inquiry, which is due to run until the summer of 2026, is examining the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down large parts of the economy and killed more than 220,000 people in Britain. reuters informed of.
Senior government officials have repeatedly said that the government was unprepared for the pandemic and that a “toxic” and “macho” culture hampered the response to the health crisis.
The danger for Sunak is that the inquiry’s evidence undermines his attempt to position himself as part of Johnson’s chaotic leadership transition, even though he was one of that government’s most senior ministers.
Previous evidence showed he was branded “Dr Death” by a government scientific adviser in the summer of 2020 for his “Eat Out to Help Out” policy, which subsidized meals in pubs and restaurants, but He was criticized by health experts for spreading the virus.
