Boris Johnson asked if government ‘believes in long COVID’, coronavirus inquiry hears
Boris Johnson described long COVID as “b*******”, the inquiry into the pandemic in the UK has heard.
A document from October 2020 described the symptoms of the condition, beside which the then prime minister wrote “b*******” and “this is Gulf War Syndrome”.
Mr Johnson repeated similar remarks in a WhatsApp message four months later, the UK COVID-19 Inquiry heard.
In February 2021, Mr Johnson wrote: “Do we really believe in long COVID? Why can’t we hedge it more? I bet it’s complete Gulf War Syndrome stuff.”
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COVID ‘chaos’ at No 10
Professor Chris Brightling, professor of respiratory medicine, and Dr Rachael Evans, clinical associate professor and honorary consultant respiratory physician, both at the University of Leicester, said they were disappointed the condition was apparently dismissed at such a high level.
Giving evidence on Friday, Prof Brightling said: “I’m deeply saddened and extremely angry at the same time.
“There are people in this room, there are people who are watching who have either suffered with long COVID themselves or their loved ones had long COVID, and I would be surprised if there are people in this room who do not at least know somebody who’s had long COVID.”
He went on to question whether Mr Johnson was saying “b******* to the science”, which he said was “clearly wrong because the science was already quite compelling that this was a problem”.
Prof Brightling added: “Is it b******* to the patients because he actually didn’t really feel that they deserved a voice?”
Prof Brightling said the comments and the fact Mr Johnson’s view appeared not to change as the pandemic progressed was “yet another unbelievable thing that happened”.
He added: “We don’t know how much this influenced the activity from government, and what government then did. But you would expect if the prime minister’s view was such it may well have had an influence on other people in government.”
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‘Shocking and just beyond disappointing’
Dr Evans said the condition is “a very real phenomenon”.
Asked for her reaction to Mr Johnson’s words, she said: “It’s shocking and just beyond disappointing, and I still feel very emotive when you see it because obviously we’ve got people here, as Chris has said, that are living through this absolutely dreadful illness.”
She added: “To see that your own prime minister has written something like that, I just can’t begin to think how people living through it feel.
“And actually, as clinicians and researchers, we were already feeding back very clear descriptions of what this illness looked like, even if we didn’t know exactly what was causing it and all the rest of it. It was a very real and is a very real phenomenon.”
Anthony Metzer KC, speaking on behalf of Long COVID Kids, Long COVID SOS and Long COVID Support, previously told the inquiry Mr Johnson initially “denied the truth” of the suffering of long COVID patients.
He said: “The UK’s senior-most decision-makers were dismissing, diminishing and disbelieving the very existence and risk of long COVID.”
Mr Johnson with his cabinet secretary Simon Case in May 2022
‘PM meetings aren’t working’
The inquiry also released an undated draft report containing responses from over 45 people predominantly working closely in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office who were asked about what problems had occurred and what could be done better.
The document said there were “some universal themes”, including: “PM meetings aren’t working”, “Decisions are never final” and “We have a hundred actions and no plan”.
Staff were also “exhausted and stressed”, the document added. It said: “‘No one listens to anyone else’. Views ignored. Bad behaviour from senior leaders tolerated. Too much politics (small p).”
It also noted: “No 10 always at war with someone. Everyone wants to be in the room with the PM.
“Lots of people (including those who had talked over junior women) mentioned junior women being talked over or ignored.”
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Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip.
Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home.
The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.
The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.
However, Ms Reeves has rejected calls to cancel the visit, writing in The Times on Friday night that choosing not to engage with China is “no choice at all”.
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The chancellor will be accompanied by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and other senior executives.
She will meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday to discuss financial services, trade and investment.
She will also “raise difficult issues”, including Chinese firms supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said.
But it did not mention whether Ms Reeves would raise the treatment of the Uyghur community, which Downing Street said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would do during his visit last year.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Pic: AP
On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling Sky News that the climbing cost of government borrowing was a “global trend” that had affected many countries, “most notably the United States”.
“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Europe,” she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.
“China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.”
Read more – Ed Conway analysis: The chancellor’s gamble with China
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Nandy defends Reeves’ trip to China
However, former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.
While in the country’s capital, Ms Reeves will also visit British bike brand Brompton’s flagship store, which relies heavily on exports to China, before heading to Shanghai for talks with representatives across British and Chinese businesses.
It is the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) since 2019, building on the Labour government’s plan for a “pragmatic” policy with the world’s second-largest economy.
Sir Keir Starmer was the first British prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping in six years at the G20 summit in Brazil last autumn.
Relations between the UK and China have become strained over the last decade as the Conservative government spoke out against human rights abuses and concerns grew over national security risks.
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How much do we trade with China?
Navigating this has proved tricky given China is the UK’s fourth largest single trading partner, with a trade relationship worth almost £113bn and exports to China supporting over 455,000 jobs in the UK in 2020, according to the government.
During the Tories’ 14 years in office, the approach varied dramatically from the “golden era” under David Cameron to hawkish aggression under Liz Truss, while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “robust” but resisted pressure from his own party to brand China a threat.
The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth and that “making working people across Britain secure and better off is at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind”.
Ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “By finding common ground on trade and investment, while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”
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