In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government should "just let people die" rather than impose a second nationwide lockdown, according to a survey. Sunak was then the finance minister.

On October 25, 2020, Patrick Vallance, who was the UK government's chief scientific adviser during the coronavirus pandemic, recorded in his diary a meeting between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sunak.

The diary shown to the inquiry records how Johnson's most senior adviser during the pandemic, Dominic Cummings, relayed to Valens what he had heard at the meeting.

Valens quotes Cummings in his diary: "Sunak thought 'just let people die'. It all feels like a lack of leadership."

A spokesman for Sunak said the prime minister would make his position clear when giving evidence to the inquiry "rather than responding piecemeal to every piece of evidence".

On October 25, 2020, Patrick Vallance, who was the UK government's chief scientific adviser during the coronavirus pandemic, recorded in his diary a meeting between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sunak.

The diary shown to the inquiry records how Johnson's most senior adviser during the pandemic, Dominic Cummings, relayed to Valens what he had heard at the meeting.

Valens quotes Cummings in his diary: "Sunak thought 'just let people die'. It all feels like a lack of leadership."

A spokesman for Sunak said the prime minister would make his position clear when giving evidence to the inquiry "rather than responding piecemeal to every piece of evidence".