* Contains some strong language * Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings has made a series of explosive claims about mistakes made by the government in handling coronavirus. But what impact will they have? Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

The PM’s former chief aide said Boris Johnson had initially dismissed Covid as a “scare story” and said the UK had been too slow to lock down.

And he claimed Health Secretary Matt Hancock had lied on multiple occasions and should have been fired.

“Tens of thousands of people died, who didn’t need to die,” said Mr Cummings.

In a marathon seven hour evidence session, Mr Cummings told a committee: “The truth is that senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me fell disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect of its government in a crisis like this.”

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