Boris Johnson has been accused of a “mad and dangerous” response to the Covid pandemic comparable to Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.
The exchanges between Simon Case, the government’s top civil servant, and officials were shown on Monday to the inquiry into how the government handled the worst health crisis in almost a century.
When the government was reopening after the first lockdown, Case said Mr Johnson wanted to let the virus “rip” and compared his approach to that of the former US President and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous,” Case told other colleagues.
It comes as diary extracts revealed chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance accused Mr Johnson of “creating chaos” and being “completely inconsistent” during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, former top aide Martin Reynolds confirmed his internal report into government culture in spring 2020 found that female staff were being “talked over and ignored” in what showed a “significant degree of misogyny”.
Dominic Cummings, who served as the former prime minister’s chief of staff, and Lee Cain, Mr Johnson’s former communications chief, will be grilled at the inquiry later this week, alongside all Mr Johnson’s former aides.
