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Grieving families described the prime minister’s testimony as part of the Covid investigation as “pathetic” and criticised his inability to remember emails sent during the pandemic.
Some other people hung photographs of their deceased loved ones around their necks and as Rishi Sunak left the investigation room, many stood up and held photographs of their loved ones who had died from the virus.
There were collective sighs when, on several occasions, Sunak said he perhaps didn’t remember any evidence of his tenure as chancellor, adding an email from his personal secretary that raised fears that the government’s moves to open up the UK after lockdown were “a riskier end” of the spectrum.
Speaking after the hearing, Jean Adamson, who lost her father Aldrich Adamson to Covid-19, said Sunak’s testimony was the weakest she had seen during the entire inquiry and criticised his refusal to provide his WhatsApp messages sent during the pandemic period.
Adamson, a member of Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: “The fact that he has refused to hand over his WhatsApp messages shows that he is interested in learning lessons and saving lives, and that he is playing us for fools.
“This morning, his testimony so far is the maximum pathetic functionality I have noticed since the beginning of this investigation.
“He ‘doesn’t recall’, he seems to have memory problems – ‘oh, I haven’t seen that email’.”
“He takes us for fools and continues to treat us with utter contempt. If the pandemic were to happen tomorrow, the country would be in the disastrous position of having a prime minister whom the public does not trust to respond well.
Ms Adamson was joined by Scottish Covid Bereaved’s lead lawyer, Aamer Anwar, who said families who lost loved ones during the pandemic were “disappointed” by the Prime Minister’s testimony.
He said: “Rishi Sunak has finished giving his evidence today, and many of the Covid bereaved are left disappointed, he offered words of sorrow but offered no apology to the families.
“Rishi Sunak, in his role as chancellor, is Boris Johnson’s right-hand man, but his number one loyalty is clear: to the markets.
“Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson did not want hindsight, all of Europe watched in real time as a tsunami of the pandemic swept through Italy and the rest of Europe before reaching our shores.
“When it comes to WhatsApps, the bereaved don’t accept their explanation: Covid mourners find that a political leader, anywhere in the UK, is unable to generate their WhatsApps during key periods of the pandemic.
“The bereaved are not satisfied with the Prime Minister’s excuse that their WhatsApps are not available at all.
“Rishi Sunak’s one-man mission to torpedo lockdown to gain a competitive advantage resulted in the false economy of sacrificing tens of thousands of lives to save the economy. Today the Covid bereaved do not accept his empty words of sorrow.”