They weren’t ‘ bodies’... they were my family
Fury of MP who lost 3 relatives
A LABOUR MP who has lost three relatives to Covid branded boris Johnson ‘utterly despicable’ yesterday over his alleged comment that he was prepared to ‘let the bodies pile high’.
Afzal Khan told the Commons: ‘My mother and parents-in-law were not bodies – they were my family, my loved ones.’
Downing Street has denied the PM made the comment after he reluctantly agreed to a second lockdown but refused yesterday to say that he would swear an oath to that effect.
And they failed to deny separate claims that Mr Johnson told aides he would rather let coronavirus ‘rip’ than impose a lockdown last year.
Cabinet minister Therese Coffey said she took the Prime Minister ‘on his word’ that he did not make the bodies comment.
but last night angry families started a petition demanding Mr Johnson apologise. The group Covid- 19 bereaved Families for Justice UK wrote: ‘The Prime Minister’s reported comment that he would rather see “the bodies piled high in their thousands” than instigate a third lockdown have hurt hundreds of thousands of people who have lost a loved
‘Utterly despicable’
one to Covid-19. our loved ones were not “bodies to be piled high”.
‘They were mothers, fathers, siblings, children and partners. Each death represents untold loss and suffering. bereaved families deserve an apology from the Prime Minister. Not only were his alleged comments cruel, they were irresponsible.’
Mr Khan, MP for Manchester Gorton, challenged Chancellor rishi Sunak over the issue in the Commons. He said: ‘That the Prime Minister said that he would rather see the bodies pile high than enter another lockdown is utterly despicable. Grieving families like mine deserve better.’
The Chancellor could only reply: ‘I’m very sorry for the honourable gentleman’s loss and I know the whole House will join me in passing on those condolences.’
A growing number of sources were reported to have told how Mr Johnson, after agreeing a second lockdown, said he was prepared to let ‘bodies pile high’ rather than order a third shutdown, an accusation that the Prime Minister has dismissed as ‘total rubbish’.
Asked whether the PM would repeat the denial under oath, the No 10 spokesman said: ‘That’s very much in the realms of extreme hypothetical.’
but Downing Street officials were less clear on a Times report that Mr Johnson told aides in September that he would rather let coronavirus ‘rip’ than impose a second lockdown because of the economic harm further restrictions would cause.
He was reported to have argued during a Government debate in September that lockdowns were ‘mad’ as he raised concerns about the impact on the economy.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I have seen the various reports and speculation which distort the actions of the Prime Minister.
‘At all times he has been focused on saving lives and livelihoods.’ The words do not amount to a denial, unlike No 10’s strong rejection of the suggestion Mr Johnson said in october he would rather see ‘bodies pile high’ than announce a third lockdown.
In relation to those alleged remarks, the spokesman said: ‘He didn’t say it and this is untrue.’
In a series of interviews yesterday morning, Miss Coffey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, backed Mr Johnson and No 10 in the denial of the ‘bodies’ comment, saying she was not aware of any politician who had said ‘anything like that’. She insisted the public were focused on the pandemic and the road map out of lockdown.
‘The Prime Minister says he didn’t say them... so I take the Prime Minister on his word,’ she told Sky News. ‘I’m not aware that any politician has said anything like that, or indeed any other person that I’m aware of.
‘There’s an element here about trying to keep on with the main task at hand. We’ve got through this challenging time, we’re still not out of it.’
Miss Coffey also said the public will have ‘made their own judgment’ on Dominic Cummings, the PM’s former adviser. Mr Johnson stood by Mr Cummings when the senior aide found himself in a media storm after driving his family to County Durham during the first coronavirus lockdown and then taking a trip to barnard Castle to ‘test his eyesight’.
Miss Coffey told radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I think that people will have come into contact with Dominic Cummings for the first time last year, when he did a press conference in the rose Garden.
‘They, I’m sure, will have made their own judgment on what they think of that.’
Douglas ross, the Conservatives’ leader in Scotland, said: ‘They are unacceptable, appalling comments that the Prime Minister has said he didn’t make.’
but, pressed by ITV News, he refused to say that Mr Johnson is a man of ‘integrity and honesty’.
‘The PM says he didn’t say them’