Johnson dismissed the criticisms, saying: "None of these decisions have been easy [...]. At every stage, we've tried to save lives, protest the NHS and follow the best scientific advice available."
ADVERTISEMENTPrime Minister Boris Johnson faced MPs just minutes after his former adviser Dominic Cummings said that the British government had failed the British public.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, asked Johnson about Cummings' claim that the government's approach was a case of "lions being led by donkeys" and allegation that the UK prime minister considered COVID-19 a "scare story" as late as mid-March 2020.
Cummings also said No. 10 - where he worked as a senior adviser to the PM at a time - had no plan for dealing with COVID-19 and that officials openly admitted that the UK was "completely f**cked".
"When the public needed us most, we failed them," Cummings said.
Johnson dismissed the criticisms, saying: "None of these decisions have been easy [...]. At every stage, we've tried to save lives, protest the NHS and follow the best scientific advice available."
Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, picked up the criticism later, accusing the government of responsibility for thousands of deaths and calling on Johnson to apologise.
"I take full responsibility for everything that the government did and will continue to do so," he replied.
"But I think we acted throughout with the intention of saving life, protecting the NHS and protecting the country."