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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Peter Walker Deputy political editor

Covid inquiry: Daily Mail wanted people back at work to revive sales – Johnson aide

James Slack wearing a blue jacket and smiling
James Slack said that the newspaper’s headline suggesting people wear masks to the office was prompted by concern about its circulation figures. Photograph: James Veysey/Rex/Shutterstock

Boris Johnson’s top media official said the Daily Mail’s eagerness to get people working in offices during the first Covid lockdown came from being “desperate” to sell newspapers, according to documents released to the official inquiry.

James Slack said a Mail headline in April 2020 predicting masks could allow people to return to work was spurred by a desire to revive its circulation figures. He had previously been the paper’s political editor before working for Johnson in No 10.

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