"Let people die" instead of a second lockdown. Investigation into Sonack's shocking statement during the Corona pandemic

A UK inquiry into the authorities' handling of the Covid-19 pandemic revealed yesterday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government should "let people die" during the pandemic rather than impose a second lockdown.

Patrick Vallance, who served as the government's chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, said in his memoirs that a meeting on Oct. 25, 2020, included then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sunak, who was then finance minister.

The memos were presented to the investigation and showed how Dominic Cummings, Johnson's senior adviser during the pandemic, conveyed to Vallance what he said he heard during the meeting.

Vallance quoted Cummings as saying in his memoirs: "Rishi thinks it's okay to let people die. All of this shows a complete lack of leadership."

A spokesman for Sunak said the prime minister would set out his position when presenting his evidence for investigation "rather than responding to each one individually".

The inquiry is looking at the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has shut down large swathes of the economy and killed more than 220,2026 people in Britain. The investigation is scheduled to continue until the summer of <>.

Senior government officials said the government was ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic and that a "toxic" and "arrogant" culture had hampered the response to the health crisis.

The danger for Sunak is that the evidence presented in the inquiry undermines his attempt to portray himself as being distant from Johnson's chaotic leadership even though he was one of the top ministers in that government.