BORIS Johnson has denied allegations from Dominic Cummings that UK Government failings led to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
The Prime Minister’s former aide gave seven hours of bombshell evidence to the Covid-19 select committee yesterday, forcing Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to deny the claims set against them.
Cummings said the PM was “unfit for office”, but Johnson denied Cummings' comments during a visit to a hospital in Essex this morning.
One of the key claims made by Cummings was that Government failings had resulted in tens of thousands of needless deaths.
READ MORE: Dominic Cummings criticises Nicola Sturgeon over Covid briefings
Asked whether those deaths were due to his “action or inaction”, Johnson said: “No, I don’t think so.
“Of course this has been an incredibly difficult series of decisions, none of which we have taken lightly.”
He insisted that “at every stage we have been governed by a determination to protect life”.
Asked whether he said he would rather see “bodies pile high” than order a third lockdown, Johnson said: “I have already made my position very clear on that point.
“I’m getting on with the job of delivering the road map that I think is the sensible way forward.”
The Tory leader has previously denied making the comment, which Cummings told MPs he heard from the Prime Minister in his Downing Street study.
READ MORE: Six of the weirdest moments from Dominic Cummings’ evidence session
Asked if Cummings told the truth, Johnson dodged the question.
Pressed on whether he was arguing with the things Cummings said, the Prime Minister replied: “I make no comment on that.”
It comes as Hancock denied Cummings’ claims of incompetence during a grilling by MPs in the House of Commons.
Hancock was forced to appear before the Commons this morning to refute the claims and said they were “unsubstantiated allegations”.
Cummings had not only accused Hancock of lying but said he should have been sacked on 15 to 20 occasions, and that Mark Sedwill, Whitehall’s top mandarin at the time, had “lost confidence in the Secretary of State’s honesty”.
Asked if Johnson regretted hiring Cummings, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is a matter of fact that the Prime Minister took on Dominic Cummings into that role, into a senior role in No 10.”
READ MORE: Matt Hancock denies Dominic Cummings claims during grilling
Downing Street denied Johnson was “obsessed with the media”, as claimed by Cummings.
Asked whether the PM’s fiancee Carrie Symonds had tried to fill jobs with her friends, another accusation made by Cummings, the spokesman said: “All appointments made in No 10 are done in the normal way, that’s always been the case.”
It comes as Michael Gove (below) sidestepped questions on Cummings’s credibility and insisted people will “make their own judgment” on his evidence.
The Cabinet Office minister was challenged by Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner to give his personal opinion on allegations levelled against the Government by Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser.
Rayner asked if Cummings was a “credible and truthful” witness, to which Gove said: “As far as yesterday’s testimony went, people will make their own judgment on everything that was said then.
“I’d say only two things: I’ve worked closely, and it’s been a privilege to work closely, with both the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health over the course of the last 12 months.
“They have given unstinting service. It’s thanks to their leadership that, for example, we have a world-beating vaccination programme.”
Gove added it was a “privilege” to serve alongside Johnson and Hancock, before he was cut short by the Speaker for a lengthy response.
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