During Monday's hearings examining how Britain handled the COVID-19 epidemic, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was cited as suggesting that instead of imposing a second national lockdown, the government should "just let people die."
On October 25, 2020, Patrick Vallance, the government's main scientific adviser during COVID, wrote in his journal about a meeting between Sunak, the finance minister, and then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
The diary entry presented to the investigation detailed how Vallance had been informed by Johnson's senior pandemic adviser, Dominic Cummings, of what he claimed to have heard at the meeting.
According to Cummings' diary, which Vallance cited, "Rishi thinks just let people die and that's okay." Everything about this seems to be lacking in leadership."
According to a representative for Sunak, the prime minister would clarify his stance when he testifies before the committee, "rather than respond to each one in piecemeal" fashion.
The investigation is looking into how the government handled the coronavirus pandemic that killed over 220,000 people in Britain and closed down significant portions of the economy. It is scheduled to continue until 2026's summer.
Senior government officials have stated time and time again that the response to the health crisis was impeded by a "toxic" and "macho" attitude, and that the administration was unprepared for the epidemic.
Sunak faces a risk because, despite being one of the most senior ministers in that cabinet, the evidence presented before the inquiry casts doubt on his attempt to portray himself as a counterbalance to Johnson's erratic leadership.
His "Eat Out to Help Out" strategy in the summer of 2020, which subsidized meals in pubs and restaurants but was criticized by health professionals for spreading the virus, is what led to previous evidence indicating that he was nicknamed "Dr. Death" by one government scientific adviser.
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