Boris Johnson 'skipped five Cobra meetings on coronavirus and ignored scientist warnings'

An investigation by the newspaper found that dire warnings were ignored from scientists, meaning the UK lost 'a crucial five weeks in the fight to tackle the dangerous threat of coronavirus'.

Now, the PM's leadership has come under fire from a senior government advisor, who accused him of not going 'urgent crisis planning'.

READ MORE: 8,000 a week still arriving in Scotland – and not one is tested for Covid-19

“There’s no way you’re at war if your PM isn’t there," the advisor, who has not been named, told the newspaper. “And what you learn about Boris was he didn’t chair any meetings. He liked his country breaks. He didn’t work weekends.

"It was like working for an old-fashioned chief executive in a local authority 20 years ago.

"There was a real sense that he didn’t do urgent crisis planning.

"It was exactly like people feared he would be.”

However, Michael Gove has strongly defended Boris Johnson on Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: “The idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the coronavirus, I think is grotesque.”

Mr Johnson is alleged to have been absent from one meeting, however, attended Chinese New Year celebrations just one week later.

The other meetings are understood to have been skipped in order for the PM to prioritise Brexit and his cabinet reshuffle, before then spending two weeks of the half-term break with his pregnant fiancee.

The first Cobra meeting suspected to have been attended by Boris Johnson was on March 2 - when the virus had already begun to spread in the UK.

At the beginning of the year, the Government affirmed the threat from coronavirus was 'low'.

READ MORE: Questions raised over population surveillance as GPs say virus testing not happening at Covid hubs

In January, health secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons: "The Chief Medical Officer continues to advise that the risk to the UK population is “low” and has concluded that while there is an increased likelihood that cases may arise in this country, we are well prepared and well equipped to deal with them."

However, the Government has now been accused of failing to prepare for the outbreak, particularly with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The newspaper was told by a government source that ministers were slow to respond to the COVID-19 threat - even in February.

They said: “Almost every plan we had was not activated in February.

"Almost every government department has failed to properly implement their own pandemic plans."

A Downing Street spokesman responded to the newspaper's reports, saying: "Our response has ensured that the NHS has been given all the support it needs to ensure everyone requiring treatment has received it, as well as providing protection to businesses and reassurance to workers.

"The prime minister has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation."

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