Rishi Sunak dubbed ‘Dr Death’ in COVID WhatsApp messages

Published

2 years ago

October 20, 2023

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Rishi Sunak was described as “Dr Death” by one of the government’s top science officers at the height of the pandemic, WhatsApp messages have revealed.

A text conversation between Professor Dame Angela McLean and Professor John Edmunds from September 2020 – shortly after the then chancellor launched his Eat Out to Help Out scheme – was shown to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry on Thursday, with the pair appearing to be talking during a briefing.

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Dame Angela, who was then an adviser to the Ministry of Defence but is now the government’s chief scientific adviser, referred to someone else in the meeting – thought to be prominent lockdown sceptic Professor Carl Heneghan – as a “f***wit” during the discussion.

And COVID modeller Prof Edwards replied by saying: “Every statistic is wrong.”

But a few messages later, Dame Angela then sent a WhatsApp message to her colleague saying, “Dr Death the Chancellor”, followed by: “In ONS you’d see it.”

Prof Edmunds appeared at the COVID inquiry hearing on Thursday and was asked by lead counsel Hugo Keith if the comments were made in relation to Mr Sunak’s scheme.

Eat Out to Help Out offered discounts to diners throughout August 2020 to get them back to restaurants and pubs as people cautiously came out of the first lockdown.

But a study in 2021 later showed the scheme had contributed to a rise in infections.

Replying to the question, Prof Edmunds said: “Honestly, it’s so long ago I wouldn’t know, but it could well be.”

However, earlier in the session, the professor of epidemiology and population health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine did say he was “still angry” about Eat Out to Help Out.

“It was one thing taking the foot off the brake, which is what we had been doing by easing restrictions, but to put your foot on the accelerator seemed perverse and to spend public money to do that when 45,000 people had just died,” he told the inquiry.

“I don’t want to blame Eat Out to Help Out for the second wave as that’s not the case, but the optics of it. Yes, the pub and restaurant sector needed support, but this is not really just about supporting them, they could have just given them the money.

“This was a scheme that encouraged people to take an epidemiological risk. It only applied if you went into the restaurant and ate in the restaurant – it didn’t apply to take out.”

A spokesperson for COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, Naomi Fulop, said the public inquiry had already shown there was “absolutely no consultation with the government’s scientific advisers on Eat Out to Help Out, that it contributed to the loss of thousands of lives, put unnecessary pressure on the NHS and plunged the country into a brutal second lockdown”.

She added: “It’s unbearable to think that if it wasn’t for Rishi Sunak’s reckless, unscientific and callous approach, my Mum might still be with me.

“When our current chief scientific adviser has referred to our prime minister as ‘Dr Death’, how can any of us have faith in our government if another pandemic strikes?”

A government source said: “We designed the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to protect two million jobs in hospitality, and statistics show that the scheme brought back 400,000 people from furlough whilst safely restoring consumer confidence.

“Local take-up of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was not positively correlated with COVID rates in any English region or country.”

Politics

Starmer refuses to rule out manifesto-breaking tax rises in budget

Published

2 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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Starmer refuses to rule out manifesto-breaking tax rises in budget

The prime minister has refused to rule out manifesto-breaking tax hikes in next week’s budget while speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby.

Sir Keir Starmer was interviewed by Rigby while the pair were in South Africa for a meeting of the G20 group of nations.

Despite the government last year indicating it was not going to raise more taxes, it appears that Wednesday’s fiscal event will involve substantial increases in levies.

The 2024 Labour manifesto said: “We will ensure taxes on working people are kept as low as possible.

“Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase national insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.”

At the start of their interview, the prime minister was asked by Rigby if it was important for politicians to “stick to their word”.

Sir Keir said: “Yes, it is important that politicians stick to their word.

“They have to make decisions against a political backdrop. And, we’ve also got big decisions to make in the budget that’s coming in just a few days time.”

This caveat matches the expectations that a range of taxes are going to be increased so the government can keep its spending pledges and increase its fiscal headroom amid worsening economic headwinds.

There was chaos last week after the increase in income tax that many had expected to be on the way was revealed to no longer be on the cards.

Asked specifically on the manifesto commitment on tax, Sir Keir told Rigby that decisions will be made “against a very difficult backdrop”.

In total, the prime minister refused 12 times to rule out tax rises.

He added it was “important to take the right decisions for our country”.

Rigby pointed out in the lead-up to the 2024 Budget, the prime minister was more unequivocal, saying income tax, national insurance and VAT would not all go up.

The prime minister declined to make the same promise, saying the decisions on tax will be announced on Wednesday.

However, Sir Keir said the budget will be guided by “principles”, including “fairness”.

The prime minister said the three areas he is “bearing down on” are the NHS, cutting national debt and dealing with the cost of living crisis.

One tax rise that has not been ruled out is what is known as a “stealth tax rise” of freezing income tax thresholds.

Rigby highlighted that in last year’s budget, Rachel Reeves said freezing thresholds will “hurt working people” – and asked the prime minister if he agreed.

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Sir Keir said: “We are going to set out our decisions.

“We will have absolutely in mind that the cost of living is the number one issue for people across the country.”

Pushed again, if working people will have their taxes increased, the prime minister instead mentioned he has people who are “struggling with the cost of living” in mind when making decisions.

Politics

Ex-Coinbase lawyer announces run for New York Attorney General, citing crypto policy

Published

3 hours ago

November 21, 2025

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Ex-Coinbase lawyer announces run for New York Attorney General, citing crypto policy

Khurram Dara, a former policy lawyer at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, officially launched his campaign for New York State Attorney General.

In a Friday notice, Dara cited his “regulatory and policy experience, particularly in the crypto and fintech space” among his reasons to try to unseat Attorney General Letitia James in 2026.

The former Coinbase lawyer had been hinting since August at potential plans to run for office, claiming that James had engaged in “lawfare” against the crypto industry in New York.

Law, Politics, New York, Elections — *Source:* *Khurram Dara*

Until July, Dara was the regulatory and policy principal at Bain Capital Crypto, the digital asset arm of the investment company. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as Coinbase’s policy counsel from June 2022 to January 2023 and was previously employed at the crypto companies Fluidity and Airswap.

James, who took office in 2019, has faced criticism from many in the crypto industry for filing lawsuits against companies on behalf of affected New Yorkers, including Genesis, KuCoin and NovaTech. Whoever assumes the role of New York’s attorney general would have significant discretion over whether to file charges against crypto companies.

Dara, who said he plans to run as a Republican, also echoed Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s recent winning campaign, citing New Yorkers’ concerns about the cost of living and affordability. Cointelegraph reached out to Dara for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

The lawyer who represented XRP holders is also running for office again

As the deadline approached for candidates for various offices to announce their runs, former Massachusetts senatorial candidate John Deaton said he would try to unseat a Democrat again.

Deaton ran against Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2024, losing by about 700,000 votes. On Nov. 10, however, he announced he would run as a Republican again, attempting to unseat Senator Ed Markey in 2026.