Owen Jones Backs Dame Angela McLean: Rishi Sunak Is ‘Dr. Death’

Guardian’s Owen Jones cheekily backed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak branding as “Dr. Death” on Friday’s Good Morning Britain after the Covid-19 inquiry revealed the private nickname coined for him by a top scientific adviser during the pandemic.

The confidential Whatsapp messages from September 2020 were unveiled on Thursday as evidence in the ongoing Covid-19 inquiry. The messages brought to light candid comments made by Dame Angela McLean, the government’s chief science adviser, about key political figures involved in the UK’s pandemic response.

On Friday Good Morning Britain host Ben Shepherd led with a somewhat empathetic line of questioning before Jones decided to turn the presenter’s take on its head.

Of Sunak, Shepherd said: “He’s out in the Middle East trying to negotiate and trying to help find some peace. And then there’s stories about him being described like that. Is that helpful? I mean it undermines his position.”

Conservative commentator Iain Dale answered first, saying that such criticism will “be water off a duck’s back.”

Jones interrupted and said: “It should be devastating… A lot of people died, I think unnecessarily, partly because of [his] decisions… So yeah, Dr. Death, exactly.

Those decisions, which earned Sunak, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, the striking nickname, “Dr Death the Chancellor” included his championing the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The scheme subsidised restaurant dining to encourage the public out of their homes during a critical phase of the pandemic.

Dame McLean’s ire was not just reserved for Sunak. Additionally, Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, didn’t escape her scrutiny, being referred to as a “fuckwit”.

The discovery comes amidst a broader probe into the UK’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Established by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021, the inquiry seeks to shed light on the decisions, strategies, and disagreements that marked the nation’s response to the health crisis.