Anger of Suffolk COVID relatives at Boris Johnson comments

The UK COVID-19 Inquiry in London has been hearing testimony from Government advisers about the 'chaos' and 'dysfunction' at the heart of the state as ministers responded to the unfolding situation as the deadly virus spread among the British public.

READ MORE: Daughter slams government over mum's covid death in Hadleigh care home

Messages sent by Dominic Cummings, one of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's top advisers, have been read out at the inquiry, which were highly critical of ministers, including West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock, who was health secretary during the pandemic.

Dominic Cummings was critical of West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock at the COVID inquiry (Image: James Manning/PA Wire)Further messaging has also emerged from Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser during COVID-19, in which he discussed how Johnson was 'obsessed with older people accepting their fate' and believed COVID was 'Nature's way of dealing with older people'.

However, the revelations made in the inquiry have infuriated the families of Suffolk's COVID-19 dead, who endured restrictions that meant they were often unable to see their loved-ones prior to their deaths.

READ MORE: Ipswich news

Susanna Woodsford described how she was unable to see her father Ian Ward, a retired maths teacher at Stowmarket Middle School, because of the risk she would give him the virus.

Mr Ward died in 2020 aged 85 when he contracted the virus in hospital after being admitted with an unrelated illness.

'Proper Ipswich boy' Robert Bird died from COVID-19 (Image: Park View Care Home)Susanna said she did not leave her home for a year because of the risks to her father and her son, who was considered to be clinically vulnerable to the virus.

Of the comments attributed to Johnson, she said: "How dare he say that? How does he know? The virus did get rid of the elderly and the disabled, but it was not Mother Nature's way. Our elderly were not being looked after properly."

READ MORE: Suffolk news

Paying tribute to Mr Ward, Susanna told the EADT that her father had a 'good sense of humour' and was 'so kind' while he never saw the bad in anyone.

She said she could not understand the chain of events that occurred during the pandemic and the decisions that were taken that affected everyone's lives.

Comments attributed to Boris Johnson discussed how COVID-19 was 'Nature's way' of getting rid of old people (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA)"I just don't understand why they scared us so much when they were going out themselves," Susanna added.

She believed the Government was still 'covering up' events and trying to 'weasel' its way out of responsibility for what happened.

"I am just angry about it because it is so unfair and they are still trying to weasel their way out of it," she said.

Rebecca Bird's father Robert died from the virus in late 2020 aged 78.

The 'proper Ipswich boy' had served for a long period in the navy, a service that took him across the globe to the USA, India, Borneo and the Falklands.

West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock was criticised by Dominic Cummings during the COVID-19 inquiry (Image: PA)He was also an instructor with the Ipswich Sea Cadets, a school governor at Chantry High School, an active member of the Royal British legion, the Royal Navy Association and the Poppy Appeal.

Rebecca said: "I am angry about the whole thing and so is my whole family.

"I just think these are politicians- they are meant to be here for us. They are meant to have our best interests at heart and the way these comments are coming out- that these are old people, they should accept their fate- what kind of heartless nonsense is that?"

She felt 'let down' by the Government and described how relatives, including Robert's brother in Australia, were unable to say their 'final goodbyes' to the father-of-five and grandfather-of-seven.

"I don't see any compassion or any remorse from any of these people and there is no public apology to people who were affected- there has not been one to this day.

Messages from Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser, were read out at the COVID-19 inquiry (Image: James Manning/PA)"This inquiry is just dragging up more ill feeling towards the Government and these people who are supposed to be making these decisions for us and it looks like they just don't care," Rebecca said.

The public had 'lost faith' in politicians, she added and she did not see how the inquiry was going to 'make things better'.

Of Mr Hancock, Mr Cummings claimed that the then health secretary should have been replaced, which would have meant that rapid testing would have been 'smoother, planning more honest and effective and thousands would have survived'.