Covid: Johnson blamed Welsh rates on singing and obesity, inquiry hears

Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson blamed Wales' high Covid rates in the pandemic on "the singing and the obesity", according to the diary of his chief scientific adviser at the time.

An extract from Sir Patrick Vallance's diaries was shown as Mr Johnson gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry.

It included the line: "Wales very high - PM says 'it is the singing and the obesity... I never said that.'"

Mr Johnson was quizzed on a different part of the entry.

The extract was dated 11 September 2020.

Also during the hearing on Thursday, the former prime minister claimed it was not clear that Wales' short lockdown, which began the following month, had worked.

The Welsh government issued a stay-at-home directive for two weeks in a bid to stop infections.

The former prime minister made the claim when being pressed at the Covid inquiry on whether he should have introduced a circuit breaker in England the month before.

But it was pointed out to him the Welsh lockdown had not happened by then.

Wales forced pub, restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops to shut for two weeks in autumn 2020.

At the time Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said the "time-limited firebreak" would be a "short, sharp shock to turn back the clock, slow down the virus and buy us more time".

The Welsh lockdown would eventually be mirrored in England two weeks later.

Earlier in the inquiry Mr Johnson's former communications chief Lee Cain said the firebreak was the "correct decision".

"The scientific advice was not clear," said Mr Johnson.

"Yes, there was a push for a circuit breaker, but that was not supported by the health secretary [Matt Hancock], as he has testified to you, and he was normally amongst the toughest in wanting to impose lockdowns."

"There were question marks about the circuit breaker and its efficacy, and indeed where the circuit breaker was tried, as you know in Wales, it's not clear that it actually worked."

Inquiry counsel Hugo Keith pointed out the lockdown occurred later.

"It wasn't of course imposed until late October," he said.

"Sure," Mr Johnson replied, "but what I'm saying is there were perhaps legitimate grounds for thinking that a circuit breaker was not a panacea, and I was keen to continue with a local or a regional strategy which continued to have scientific support for being reasonable."

On 12 October 2020 the UK government announced a tiered system in England.