08 December 2023 , 17:41
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Rishi Sunak argued that ministers should let Covid "rip a bit" according to a damning diary extract disclosed to the Covid Inquiry.
The PM, who was Chancellor in Boris Johnson's Government during the pandemic, faces his own interrogation next week when he takes the stand under oath.
He is expected to be grilled on the infamous Eat Out to Help Out scheme which Mr Johnson claimed Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty had dubbed "eat out to help the virus". There have also been claims during the Inquiry's hearings that the then-Chancellor believed in autumn 2020 ministers should "just let people die" - which Mr Sunak has denied he said.
According to documents released this week, Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, said in a diary extract from 13 May 2021: "PM meeting. Cx [Chancellor] suddenly pipes up on incentives already in place. Argues that we should let this rip a bit". The meeting was just several days before the easing of the third nationwide lockdown where people were able to meet indoors in groups of just six for the first time in four months.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “Sunak’s choice of language lays bare the complete disregard for all the families whose lives were ruined by this Conservative Government’s chaotic approach. This country deserves better."
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Another extract from Sir Patrick's diary two months later also claims the then-Chancellor was pushing "very hard for a faster opening up and fuller opening up, getting rid of all restrictions". The top scientists concluded in his notes: "Basically it is PM and Cx against a more cautious [Michael] Gove and Saj [Sajid Javid]. PM in a bad mood.
"Ends by joking 'please record that you have overcome by natural condition + bullied me into opening up'. The whole meeting was political posturing."
A government spokeswoman said: "Throughout the pandemic the government acted to save lives and livelihoods, prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and deliver a world-leading vaccine rollout which protected the nation. "We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and we are committed to learning from the Covid Inquiry’s findings which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future."
During a gruelling two-day evidence session Mr Johnson was also forced to sit silently as the lead Inquiry counsel confronted him with extracts from Sir Patrick's detailed diaries. The disgraced former PM denied the claim by his former top aide Dominic Cummings that he used the phrase "let the bodies pile high" during the Covid crisis.
In his 233-page witness statement to the Inquiry, Mr Johnson dismissed the claim as "absurd". He told Lady Hallett's probe: "I am accused - by the usual sources - of saying that I would rather 'let the bodies pile high' than impose another lockdown. "As I have already said on the record, I did not say this. What makes this especially absurd is that I am supposed to have said it on 31 October 2020, when the decision to lock down had in fact already been taken."