Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock have defended themselves against allegations made by former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.
Mr Johnson says some of the Cummings’ commentary “doesn’t bear any relation to reality.” He made no comment when asked whether Mr Cummings is telling the truth, but did state he tried to “protect life” at every cost.
Leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, said “it’s not about taking anyone’s word – it’s about getting to the bottom of it.” He stated that the inquiry into the handling of the pandemic “needs to be fast-forwarded to get to the bottom of it.”
Why is the Government defending itself?
In yesterday’s seven-hour committee session, Dominic Cummings made claims about the Government’s failure in dealing with coronavirus.
Mr Cummings described some colleagues as “brilliant”; others were “criminal” including Health Secretary, Matt Hancock.
Mr Cummings accused Mr Hancock of repeatedly lying during the pandemic, making him “completely incapable of doing the job.”
The Health Secretary told MPs in the Commons that the “unsubstantiated allegations” from Mr Cummings “are not true.”
He went on to defend his position, stating that he has been “straight with people in public and private throughout.”
Claims towards Mr Hancock were also tweeted by Mr Cummings.
38/ Media generally abysmal on covid but even I’ve been surprised by 1 thing: how many hacks have parroted Hancock’s line that ‘herd immunity wasn’t the plan’ when 'herd immunity by Sep' was *literally the official plan in all docs/graphs/meetings* until it was ditched
— Dominic Cummings (@Dominic2306) May 22, 2021
What has Mr Hancock been accused of?
The charges against Mr Hancock included that infection spread “like wildfire” in care homes because he falsely claimed that patients were being tested for the virus before being discharged from hospital.
At a meeting on March 27 last year, Mr Cummings said he was told by officials that Mr Hancock had been turning down ventilators because the price had been marked up.
This led Mr Cummings to say: “I think the secretary of state for health should’ve been fired for at least 15 or 20 things, including lying to everybody on multiple occasions.”
Shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth says the claims are “grave and serious” and people “deserve full answers.”
What has Boris Johnson been accused of?
Mr Johnson faced claims from his former adviser that he was unfit for office.
The assertion was that Government failings had resulted in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
According to NHS England, the total number of Covid-19 deaths reported in London hospitals is 14,901.
Asked whether those deaths were due to his “action” or “inaction”, Mr Johnson said: “No, I don’t think so”.
The Government states the country must continue its focus on the vaccine rollout.
