Boris Johnson 'could have kept deaths down if he listened to advice', Covid inquiry hears

By Lewis Denison, Westminster Producer

Boris Johnson "just sat there in silence" as a top scientific adviser told him to "get a grip", the Covid inquiry has heard.

Dame Angela McLean, who was the government's deputy chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, said the ex-PM could have helped the UK avoid an increase in deaths if he had taken advice to announce a "circuit-breaker" lockdown, which he did weeks later.

She said scientific advisers were struggling to get Mr Johnson to listen to their guidance and it required "electrifying" warnings to force him into action.

Dame Angela, who is now the government's chief scientific adviser after taking over from Sir Patrick Vallance, eventually told a room of ministers, including Mr Johnson, to "get a grip" when urging a lockdown.

Asked what his response was, she said: "They just sat there in silence and listened to us. I don't remember there being many questions."

She also said the "most frustrating part of the pandemic" was telling decision-makers "you should do something now and nothing happened".

Dame Angela also said a lack of government action in September 2020 led to preventable deaths from Covid-19.

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She agreed with Professor John Edmunds' revelation that ministers were “making the same mistakes again” by not imposing tighter restrictions in the autumn.

When asked whether not imposing short-term “circuit-breaker” restrictions in September was a mistake, she said: “Yes, I believe that was a mistake. If we had a circuit-breaker in September cases would have dropped a little bit and then we would have bought some time.”

She added: “The number of infections kept rising through September and October with attendant hospitalisations and, sadly, deaths.”

When asked whether deaths would have been lower if a circuit-breaker had been imposed earlier, Dame Angela said: “Yes.”

Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove will be among those giving evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry next week.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham will also appear, alongside former health secretary Sajid Javid.

The inquiry timetable suggests Mr Johnson and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may appear the week after.

Eat Out to Help Out policy causes pain for Rishi Sunak at inquiry

It was previously revealed at the inquiry that Dame Angela had referred to Mr Sunak - who was chancellor at the time - as "Dr Death" over his controversial Eat Out to Help Out Policy.

Dame Angela was appearing to suggest the policy would drive up infections, something which has been asserted numerous times at the inquiry.

The policy, which encouraged people to defy previous advice by eating out at restaurants with a discount provided by the government, has been a source of much controversy for the now-prime minister.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick, the government's most senior advisers on the pandemic, revealed in their testimony that they were not consulted on the policy before it was announced to the public.

Dame Angela confirmed in her testimony she was also not consulted.

Mr Sunak said in his written submission to the inquiry he does not recall any pushback on the policy, but Sir Patrick said his advice would have been "very clear" had he been asked.

Giving evidence to the probe, Sir Patrick said: “We didn’t see it before it was announced and I think others in the Cabinet Office also said they didn’t see it before it was formulated as policy. So we weren’t involved in the run up to it.”

Mr Sunak was asked about the claim at Prime Minister's Questions and did not deny bypassing scientific advisers.

Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West said: “On Monday the government’s (former) chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance told the Covid inquiry that the now-prime minister had not asked for advice regarding Eat Out to Help Out.

“But on March 9 two years ago, the prime minister told this House that, and I quote, 'at all steps in the crisis we have taken the advice of our scientific advisers'. Who is right?”

Mr Sunak said: “As he knows, there is an ongoing statutory inquiry into Covid.

"It’s absolutely right that that process is followed. I look forward to providing my own evidence in the coming weeks and addressing all these questions.

“But it was the case that the government took advice from scientific advisers, and again, that’s exactly what this inquiry will go over.”

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