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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Ben Quinn Political correspondent

Boris Johnson wanted ‘massive fines’ for lockdown breaches, Covid inquiry hears

Matt Hancock
Patrick Vallance’s diary entries were given in evidence during the appearance before the Covid inquiry of former health secretary Matt Hancock on Thursday 30 November. Photograph: UK Covid-19 Inquiry/PA

Boris Johnson pushed to “punish people who aren’t doing the right thing” and for “massive fines” when it came to lockdown rules, the Covid-19 inquiry has heard.

An extract from the diaries of the government’s chief scientific adviser at the time, Sir Patrick Vallance, recorded discussions he had with the then prime minister and health secretary in September 2020, when cases, admissions and deaths had all risen.

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