PM denies ‘bodies pile high’ remark
BORIS JOHNSON has denied saying he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than order another coronavirus lockdown.
The Prime Minister said lockdowns had worked and insisted the public wanted the Government to focus on tackling coronavirus as he faced questions about the bitter briefing war that has hit No 10.
The remarks were reportedly made after the Prime Minister agreed to a second lockdown, and suggest Mr Johnson was prepared to face a mounting death toll rather than order a third set of tough restrictions, something he was eventually forced to do.
The decision on the second lockdown last autumn was leaked and is the subject of an inquiry to find the so-called “chatty rat” who tipped off the press.
Appearing before MPs, the UK’s most senior civil servant declined to say whether Mr Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings had been cleared over that leak, as the former aide has claimed.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee that it is “probable” that the culprit will never be identified.
But he said the Prime Minister did not try to block the investigation, after his former Vote Leave ally alleged he had considered the move.
Mr Cummings accused Mr Johnson of seeking to block the investigation after learning that a close friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds had been implicated, a claim the Prime Minister denied.
In an incendiary blog post, Mr Cummings went on to say that Mr Case had told Mr Johnson that neither he nor the then No 10 director of communications, Lee Cain, was the culprit.
The Cabinet Secretary declined to comment on the suggestion, telling the MPs: “I am not trying to frustrate, but this is drawing me into details of an ongoing investigation which – for reasons I have set out – I can’t go into in this setting.”
Asked by chair William Wragg if an outcome had been “actually desired”, Mr Case said that “from the outset” the PM and others were “determined” to find the culprit.
Pressed if he knew of an investigation being stopped because the outcome would be embarrassing, Mr Case said: “No, in relation to this particular leak and others, the Prime Minister has always been clear, very determined to see these inquiries complete.”
Mr Cummings released his onslaught after he was accused by No10 of a series of damaging leaks, including text message exchanges between Mr Johnson and the entrepreneur Sir James Dyson.
Ministers are now concerned at what he may say when he gives evidence to MPs investigating the Government’s response to the pandemic next month.
Mr Cummings is widely known to have been critical of Mr Johnson’s delay in launching a second lockdown in England when cases began rising last autumn, and there is speculation he will seek to blame him for the high death toll.