Labour MP claims Boris Johnson’s Covid condition was exaggerated because he was ‘not at death’s door’ Rob Merrick © Provided by The Independent
No 10 exaggerated how close to death Boris Johnson was when he caught Covid-19, a Labour MP has suggested, triggering a political row.
The prime minister was “not quite at death’s door as we were led to believe” when he was put in intensive care in April last year, Valerie Vaz claimed.
Simon Clarke, a Conservative MP, hit back immediately, saying: “That’s an extraordinary thing to say. Are you impugning the prime minister’s integrity?
Watch: Labour MP s conspiracy theory about Boris Johnson s illness
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MP slammed over conspiracy theory about Boris Johnson s Covid-19 battle
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Labour s Valerie Vaz issued a grovelling apology tonight after suggesting Boris Johnson pretended to be seriously ill with coronavirus.
The former frontbencher, axed by Keir Starmer earlier this month, said during a TV appearance that the PM was not quite at death s door despite what the public was led to believe .
Confronted by Tory MP Simon Clarke over the comment on the BBC s Politics Live show, Ms Vaz refused to withdraw the claim completely, saying: I don t know. None of us were in the room.
The exchanges came as the panel discussed stinging criticism of the government s response from Dominic Cummings - who is due to give bombshell evidence to a Commons committee on Wednesday.