‘People will die anyway’: Pressure on Boris Johnson over Covid messages

Inquiry told of comments made by former prime minister during meeting discussing pandemic response

Boris Johnson asked why damage was being inflicted on the economy during the pandemic for people who will die anyway soon" in a meeting with Rishi Sunak, the Covid inquiry was told on Monday.

At the start of what is set to be a bruising week for the former prime minister, with former political aides and senior civil servants to give evidence on his government's handling of the pandemic, the diary of a former private secretary revealed the damaging remarks made in March 2020.