On 25 October 2020, Vallance made a diary entry detailing his meeting with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sunak, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer. Vallance did not attend the meeting, and Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s senior adviser, told Vallance about the diary entry – which came to light during negotiations investigating the UK’s handling of the pandemic.
In his memoirs, Vallance quoted Cummings as saying:
Rishi thinks he would rather let people die and thinks it’s okay this way.
Sunak’s representative stated that the Prime Minister would present his position during his testimony before the inquiry, rather than responding to each allegation individually.
The ongoing investigation is examining the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, which led to a widespread economic shutdown and caused the deaths of more than 220,000 people in Britain. The investigation is expected to continue until the summer of 2026. Senior government officials have consistently claimed that the government was not well prepared to confront the pandemic.
Source: Reuters
Cover image source: Getty Images
