Boris Johnson has made a solo visit under cover of darkness to the National Covid Memorial Wall, infuriating bereaved families who have been asking for weeks for him to “walk the wall” and meet them there.
Johnson was spotted at the wall on Tuesday night, a day after allegations – which he denies – that he made remarks to the effect he would rather let “bodies pile high” than announce another lockdown.
Matt Fowler, a co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, told the Daily Mirror it was a “cynical and insincere move” coming after several requests for a meeting.
On Thursday, Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said the prime minister had met bereaved families in person and virtually and that he was not trying to avoid them, but implied there may be legal reasons for not meeting Fowler’s organisation. “The prime minister has said he’s happy to meet them at an appropriate time to do so, and once the legal proceedings have concluded – that he’s not deliberately trying to avoid meeting them,” he said.
But Bereaved Families for Justice said the organisation was “not and never had been in litigation with the government” and had merely written a pre-action letter for a judicial review to help establish victims’ rights to have a statutory public inquiry, along the lines of that in the Hillsborough disaster. Pressed on the matter, Johnson’s spokesperson said he was “not aware he [the PM] had legal advice on this”, suggesting it was a political choice not to meet the group.
Fowler said: “If the prime minister hasn’t received legal advice that he can’t meet with us why does he keep saying he can’t? It constantly feels like the prime minister views us as nothing more than an annoyance, an inconvenience on his doorstep. It hurts that he won’t even offer us the respect of engaging with us to learn the lessons from our lost loved one.
“For weeks we’ve asked him to come to the wall and meet bereaved families. He’s refused to even acknowledge our request,” he said. “Then, the day after it’s [alleged] he said he’d let ‘bodies pile high’ he makes a late evening visit under cover of darkness. This is a cynical and insincere move that is deeply hurtful. Our invitation for him to walk the wall with families who’ve lost loved ones is still open.”
The Labour MP Chris Matheson was among those who said they had seen the prime minister at around dusk. “I saw him there as I walked home. There was no press, just his security officers. I nodded and said hello and went on my way,” he told HuffPost UK.
The wall has been transformed into a public mural painted with an estimated 150,000 hearts commemorating victims of the pandemic. It stretches for almost 500 metres between Lambeth and Westminster bridges near the Houses of Parliament.
Among those who have visited it is the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who described it as “profoundly moving”. Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Conservative party in Scotland, has also been to the wall.
The National Covid Memorial Wall is profoundly moving. Do go if you can – and reach out in your heart to those remembered here, and those who mourn them. #WalkTheWall @CovidMemorialUK pic.twitter.com/eZq9bZzEsl
— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) April 21, 2021
Bereaved families wrote to the prime minister on 21 April inviting him to meet them there but they have not yet had a response.
Johnson has vehemently denied making the bodies remarks and challenged Ian Blackford, the leader of the SNP, who questioned him about the alleged remarks in prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, to “produce the author, the person who claims to have heard it, because I can’t find them”.
Downing Street said Johnson had offered his “deepest condolences” to all the bereaved and had visited the wall on Tuesday “in private for quiet reflection”.
