Rishi Sunak is accused of rewriting history over claims he vetoed winter Covid lockdown
- Rishi Sunak claims he flew back from the US to stop a national Covid lockdown
- But Government sources say the ex-chancellor had little involvement last winter
- One said Sunak was ‘totally silent’ when Sir Chris Whitty argued for a lockdown
Rishi Sunak was accused of rewriting history last night after he claimed he had personally blocked another Covid lockdown last winter.
The former chancellor took credit for vetoing a national lockdown last December when the Omicron variant took off.
But multiple Government sources told the Daily Mail that Mr Sunak had little or no involvement in the decision, which was taken by Boris Johnson in defiance of the Government’s scientific experts.
Mr Sunak was on a government trip to California when the Omicron variant began to take hold late last year.
Sources said he had planned to extend his stay to join his family at their holiday home in Santa Monica.
He was forced to fly back to the UK after furious business leaders demanded a financial rescue package to help them cope with a collapse in trade caused by mixed government messaging.
Rishi Sunak’s claim that he flew home to stop a Christmas lockdown last year has been questioned by some
Discussing the episode last night, Mr Sunak claimed his return had peen pivotal in preventing another lockdown.
‘What I did in December was fly back from a Government trip overseas. And I flew back to this country to stop us sleepwalking into a national lockdown,’ he told LBC Radio.
‘We were hours away from a press conference that was going to lock us down again because of Omicron.
‘And I came back and fought very hard against the system because I believed it would have been the wrong thing for this country with all the damage it would have done to businesses, to people’s lives.’
He added: ‘We were hours away from a national lockdown but I came back and challenged the system and said this is not right, we don’t need to do this. And I’m glad I won the argument. It should give people the confidence that I’m prepared to push hard and fight for the things I believe in, even when that’s difficult.’
Mr Sunak is known to have been a lockdown sceptic who pushed for the early easing of restrictions to relieve the pressure on the economy in the summer of 2020.
But his claim to have blocked a winter lockdown was last night questioned by others involved in the decision.
Government sources said Mr Sunak was largely quiet in the meetings where Boris Johnson made the decision to not go into a lockdown
Two Cabinet sources said that when Mr Johnson asked Mr Sunak for his views on the matter at a crunch meeting, he replied: ‘Oh no, no-one wants to hear from me, Prime Minister.’
One said the then Chancellor was ‘totally silent’ when chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance made the case for another lockdown.
A Whitehall source said: ‘He is rewriting history. It was a massive call and it was made by the PM. I don’t remember him making any meaningful contribution.’
The lockdown call was backed by Michael Gove and the then health secretary Sajid Javid. But it was opposed by most other Cabinet ministers along with a powerful group of Tory MPs.
Mr Sunak also raised eyebrows by suggesting that he would continue with Mr Johnson’s flagship plan to send Channel migrants to Rwanda, but ‘make it work’.
One Whitehall source said: ‘He hated the Rwanda plan and was very difficult about the funding for it. If the PM hadn’t been so determined to make it happen he would have blocked it.’
But Mr Sunak told LBC he was in favour of it. He said he wanted the ‘best and the brightest’ to be able to come to the UK but that it was vital the public had confidence Britain’s borders were being controlled.
‘People are seeing on their screens that boats are arriving – it shows we have not got a grip on it,’ he said.
‘And I think the Rwanda policy gives us the opportunity to solve that but we now need to make it work.’
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