COVID inquiry: Boris Johnson blames NHS ‘bed blocking’ on need for first lockdown
Boris Johnson has claimed he was forced to plunge the UK into lockdown because of NHS “bed blocking”.
In a section of his witness statement shared with the official COVID inquiry, the former prime minister said the “extreme measures” announced on 23 March 2020 were introduced because the health service had “failed to grip” the problem of delayed discharges.
Politics Live: Matt Hancock wanted to decide ‘who should live and who should die’
The term, also known as bed blocking, is used to describe patients – mostly elderly – who are occupying a hospital bed they do not strictly need, often because the next stage of their care has not been organised.
Mr Johnson said: “It was very frustrating to think that we were being forced to extreme measures to lock down the country and protect the NHS – because the NHS and social services had failed to grip the decades-old problem of delayed discharges, commonly known as bed blocking.
“Before the pandemic began I was doing regular tours of hospitals and finding that about 30% of patients did not strictly need to be in acute sector beds.”
A line of ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital during England’s third national lockdown
The claim was rejected by former NHS chief executive Lord Stevens, who gave evidence to the inquiry on Thursday morning.
He said: “We, and indeed he, were being told that if action was not taken on reducing the spread of coronavirus, there wouldn’t be 30,000 hospital inpatients, there would be maybe 200,000 or 800,000 hospital inpatients.
“So you can’t say that you would be able to deal with 200,000 or 800,000 inpatients by reference to 30,000 blocked beds.
“Even if all of those 30,000 beds were freed up – for every one coronavirus patient who was then admitted to that bed, there would be another five patients who needed that care but weren’t able to get it.
“So no, I don’t think that is a fair statement in describing the decision calculus for the first wave.”
Hancock ‘wanted to decide who should live’
The inquiry also head on Thursday that former health secretary Matt Hancock wanted to decide who should live or die if hospitals became overwhelmed by coronavirus patients.
Lord Stevens said: “[Mr Hancock] took the position that in this situation he – rather than, say, the medical profession or the public – should ultimately decide who should live and who should die.
“Fortunately this horrible dilemma never crystallised.”
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Health secretary ‘wanted to decide who should live’
He added: “I certainly wanted to discourage the idea that an individual secretary of state, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, should be deciding how care would be provided.”
Lord Stevens further told the hearing that senior ministers “sometimes avoided” Cobra meetings in the early days of the pandemic chaired by Mr Hancock.
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In his witness statement, he said the emergency meetings “usefully brought together a cross-section of departments, agencies and the devolved administrations.
“However, these meetings were arguably not optimally effective. They were very large, and when Cobra meetings were chaired by the health and social care secretary, other secretaries of state sometimes avoided attending and delegated to their junior ministers instead.”
Asked by Andrew O’Connor KC if that was a reflection on Mr Hancock, Lord Stevens said: “I am not saying that was cause and effect, but that was the fact of the matter. I just observed that those two coincided.”
Mr Hancock has previously come under criticism during the inquiry, with witnesses accusing him of telling untruths and displaying “nuclear levels” of overconfidence.
The inquiry is examining political and administrative decision-making during the pandemic, with a picture emerging of chaos, dysfunctionality, incompetence and backstabbing at the heart of government during the crisis.
This week has heard how Number 10 was “unbelievably bullish” in 2020 before the full effects of the pandemic were felt in Britain – with some senior figures allegedly “laughing” at the severity of the situation in Italy – one of the first European countries to be hit by the virus.
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Witnesses, including Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings and ex communications chief Lee Cain, have described the government as being in “complete chaos” by early March.
Mr Johnson allegedly dithered over whether to announce a lockdown because he wanted to be like the mayor in the film Jaws, who kept beaches open despite the danger of shark attacks.
On Wednesday, former civil servant Helen McNamara described how on 13 March, 10 days before lockdown, she had learned there was “no plan” for the NHS to deal with a pandemic.
Ms NcNamara said she warned Mr Johnson’s top officials: “I think we’re absolutely f****d, I think this country is heading for a disaster, I think we’re going to kill thousands of people.”
Witnesses scheduled to appear at the inquiry next week include former cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Lord Sedwill, former Number 10 special adviser Dr Ben Warner and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel.
Politics
UK joins US in strike on Houthi target in Yemen for first time since Donald Trump re-elected
The UK has joined US forces in attacking a Houthi target in Yemen for the first time since Donald Trump was re-elected.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the strikes took place on Tuesday as part of the government’s response to Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The ministry said careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings used by the Houthis to manufacture the sort of drones used to attack ships, located 15 miles south of the capital Sanaa.
RAF Typhoon FGR4s conducted strikes on several buildings using Paveway IV precision-guided bombs.
The planes had air refuelling support from Voyager tankers.
The ministry said the strike was conducted after dark to reduce the likelihood of civilians being in the area.
All the aircraft returned safely.
John Healey. Pic: Reuters
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “This government will always act in the interests of our national and economic security.
“Royal Air Force Typhoons have successfully conducted strikes against a Houthi military target in Yemen and all UK aircraft and personnel have returned safely to base.
“We conducted these strikes, supported by the US, to degrade Houthi capabilities and prevent further attacks against UK and international shipping.”
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Houthis a ‘persistent threat’ to ‘freedom of navigation’
Mr Healey said Houthi activities in the Red Sea are a “persistent threat” to “freedom of navigation”.
“A 55% drop in shipping through the Red Sea has already cost billions, fuelling regional instability and risking economic security for families in the UK,” he said.
“The government is steadfast in our commitment to reinforcing global stability and protecting British working people. I am proud of the dedication and professionalism shown by the service men and women involved in this operation.”
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US intensifies strikes on Houthis
It was the first time UK forces have struck a target in Yemen since May last year, the ministry confirmed.
The US has intensified its strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis under Mr Trump’s presidency, after his re-election in November 2024.
The group began launching attacks on shipping routes in November 2023 saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
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Houthi rebels allege US airstrike hit prison
The strike came after a Houthi-controlled TV channel claimed a US strike killed 68 people at a detention centre for African migrants in Yemen on Monday.
Six mayors are being elected in England, with most of the mayoralties last contested in 2021.
These include four combined authority mayors , otherwise known as metro mayors, as well as two city mayors.
Two of the mayors will take up new positions in the Hull and East Yorkshire, and Greater Lincolnshire combined authorities. The other mayoralties were all last contested in 2021.
Metro mayors
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• Greater Lincolnshire
• Hull and East Yorkshire
• West of England
City mayors
• Doncaster
• North Tyneside
Polls closed on Thursday night. Greater Lincolnshire, West of England, and Doncaster are counting results overnight while the other areas will report results on Friday.
The map below shows which mayoral candidates have won in their area by political party.
All of these mayoralties will be elected under a first-past-the-post electoral system, which is also used for Westminster parliamentary elections.
See below for more detailed breakdowns of results for each race.
Metro mayors
There are four metro mayors being elected in combined authorities. These mayors are elected by voters from several different areas and counting will take place at local council level. Tables will be updated as each local area reports its result.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
First established in 2017, the combined authority covers six areas. These are Peterborough, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, and Cambridge local council areas.
Labour won the mayoralty from the Conservatives when it was last contested in 2021.
Greater Lincolnshire
This is a new mayoralty, being elected for the first time in 2025.
The combined authority covers nine areas. These are North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Boston, Lincoln, East Lindsey, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, and South Holland local council areas.
Hull and East Yorkshire
This is a new mayoralty, being elected for the first time in 2025.
The combined authority area covers both Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire local council areas.
West of England
The combined authority covers three areas: Bristol City, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset local council areas. The authority was established in 2017.
Labour won the mayoralty from the Conservatives when it was last contested in 2021.
City mayors
There are two city mayors being elected, one for Doncaster and one for North Tyneside.
Labour’s Ros Jones has been the Mayor of Doncaster since 2013, and is running for re-election this year.
The mayor of North Tyneside has been held by Labour since 2013, though incumbent Nora Redfearn is not standing for re-election this year.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of stablecoin issuer Tether, addressed criticism over the company’s decision not to seek registration under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, arguing that the regulations were risky for stablecoins.
Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, Ardoino reiterated that Tether had no plans to apply for its US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDt — the largest by market capitalization — to be compliant under MiCA in European countries, potentially forcing exchanges to delist the stablecoin. He added that though crypto firms had to follow regulations, there was a “fear of compliance” among companies in the EU.
“[…] MiCA license is very dangerous when it comes to stablecoins, and I believe that is even more dangerous for the small, medium banking system in Europe,” said the Tether CEO, adding that banks in the region could “go belly up” in the next few years thanks to MiCA’s requirements, such as keeping 60% of stablecoins reserves in insured cash deposits in European banks. Ardoino added:
“I decided to not apply to the MiCA license because I need to protect the 400 million+ users that we have around the world. They are not as lucky as Europeans. I love Europe, but I think that unfortunately European Central Bank is more interested [in pushing] the digital euro as a way to control people and control how they spend their money.”
Related: Paolo Ardoino: Competitors and politicians intend to ‘kill Tether’
After years of planning and research, EU officials began to implement requirements under MiCA in December 2024. Tether, which is regulated and headquartered in El Salvador, is required to comply with MiCA regulatory requirements if offering products or services in EU member states.
Since the regulations went into effect, many crypto exchanges acted to ensure their platforms listed MiCA-compliant tokens. Kraken delisted 5 stablecoins, including USDt, and Crypto.com announced plans to delist 10 stablecoins as of January.
On nations establishing crypto reserves
Speaking on its intentions for operating in the United States, Ardoino said the country “would require a different type of product,” given the competition with local stablecoin issuers. He added that the US’s and other countries’ efforts to establish a Bitcoin (BTC) stockpile were “just inevitable.”
“In the medium to long term, the more Bitcoin education, the more companies will set the example […] then everyone else will follow,” said the Tether CEO. “It’s never too late to buy Bitcoin.”
Ardoino’s statements came the same day that Tether announced roughly $120 billion in exposure to US Treasurys as of the first quarter of 2025. As of May 1, USDt had a market capitalization of roughly $149 billion.
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