Prime Minister Boris Johnson today refused to deny that he said Covid-19 was 'only killing 80-year-olds' as he dismissed pleas for a second lockdown last Autumn.
Last night the Mirror exclusively reported that Mr Johnson made the comment to aides, adding: "If I was 80 I wouldn't care, I'd be more worried about the economy".
No 10 aides were said to be concerned that the PM's hatred of lockdowns would lead to him being regarded as a "Grandma killer" by the public.
Mr Johnson is facing a difficult day as his former adviser Dominic Cummings gives evidence about his and his government's handling of the pandemic - with a number of explosive revelations already delivered in the first session this morning.
Prime Minister's Questions was sandwiched between those two sessions and Labour leader Keir Starmer asked Mr Johnson directly if he made the comments regarding elderly people.
He said: "Another central allegation overnight is that the Prime Minister delayed the circuit breaker over the autumn half-term, because, quote 'covid was only killing 80-year-olds.'
"Can I remind the Prime Minister that over 83,000 people over 80 lost their lives to this virus and that his decision to delay, for 40 days, will be seen as one of the single biggest failings of the last year.
"Does the Prime Minister now accept that he used the words 'covid is only killing 80-year-olds or words to that affect?"
In response, Mr Johnson did not deny that he used those words.
He said: "We saw what happened during the pandemic, he talks about the September lockdown and the very, very difficult decisions that the country faced.
"This will of course be a matter for the public inquiry, but we have an objective test, there was a circuit breaker like the one he speaks of in Wales and it didn't work and I'm confident that we took the decisions in the best interests of the British people."
Mr Starmer noted that he was careful not to refute the allegations.
"What we are seeing today is the latest chapter of chaos, confusion and deadly misjudgements from this government, from a Prime Minister governing by press release - not a plan."
The Labour leader said that in light of the new evidence regarding the government's handling of the pandemic, a planned public inquiry should be brought forward to this summer - but the Prime Minister said he would not agree to this.
