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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Alison Rourke

‘Boris on the ropes’: what the papers say about mounting pressure on PM

The UK’s front pages focus on the PM’s alleged remarks last year over Covid restrictions.
The UK’s front pages focus on the PM’s alleged remarks last year over Covid restrictions. Composite: Various

The front pages will do little to ease the pressure on Boris Johnson over allegations that he said “let the bodies pile high” in relation to the national lockdown late last year.

The Guardian splashes with “Pressure on Johnson after claim of slur on Covid dead”. It says faced with the fury of grieving relatives the PM and senior ministers denied that he made the alleged comments, which were first reported by the Daily Mail on Monday.

The Mail says the PM is under siege, under the headline “Boris on the ropes”. It alleges “fresh sources” have come forward to claim the PM had made “crass comments” about lockdown deaths.

The Mirror’s front page is a large picture of the Covid memorial wall at St Thomas’ hospital in London with the headline: “Not just bodies, Boris … we loved them”. The paper says three people have now claimed the PM made the alleged comments, which it says has upset grieving families.

The Times leads with claims “Johnson ‘said he would let Covid rip’ in lockdown row”, saying the row suggests No 10 was in turmoil over the economic damage of the virus. The paper says it has been told the PM allegedly told aides he would rather “let it rip” during the period late last year than implement another lockdown because of the damage to businesses and the people who would lose their jobs.

The paper also claims the PM expressed regret about the first lockdown and quoted a No 10 spokesperson saying: “These are gross distortions of his (Johnson’s) position.”

The Telegraph says the PM is fighting to “move on from leaks row”. The paper says the PM will tell his cabinet on Tuesday to be “totally focused on the public’s priorities”. While it says Johnson has categorically denied the remarks, both the BBC and ITV cited sources who contradicted him.

The Daily Express’s splash is “Boris denies ‘let bodies’ pile high’ outburst’, saying he branded the allegations “total, total rubbish”, and that No 10 is fighting back over the “war of words”.

The Sun mocks up a police case file for its front page with the pun headline “Lying of Duty”, saying the No 10 leaks row is a plot worthy of the police drama.

The i has “PM tainted by sleaze, say voters” in what it describes as a “withering verdict” for Johnson on a dramatic day in Westminster. It reports a new poll which shows at least half of the people questioned believe there is a “culture of sleaze” in the government following the Greensill lobbying scandal. It describes Michael Gove’s refusal to deny the PM’s alleged remarks over bodies as a “wounding blow”.

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