“It is unacceptable that bereaved families are expected to subsidise the lifestyle of the man whose decisions led to the deaths of our loved ones.”
A petition calling for the withdrawal of all publicly funded support and privileges granted to Boris Johnson as a former prime minister has now attracted more than 42,000 signatures.
The petition is being promoted by Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, a group representing over 6,500 relatives who lost loved ones during the pandemic. The campaigners say their aim is to hold the government accountable for the decisions that contributed to avoidable deaths and to help ensure such failures are never repeated.
The surge in support follows the release of a damning report from the Covid-19 Inquiry, which condemned the UK’s handling of the pandemic. The report delivered particularly harsh criticism of what it described as a “toxic and chaotic” culture within Boris Johnson’s No. 10, concluding that the government’s response had been “too little, too late.”
Inquiry authors highlighted an environment in which the loudest voices dominated decision-making while women were routinely sidelined. The report noted that if a national lockdown had been imposed on March 16, one week earlier than it was, modelling suggests that the number of deaths in England during the first wave could have been reduced by nearly half, potentially saving around 23,000 lives.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said the findings showed that Johnson had repeatedly delayed action, ignored expert advice, and “put his political reputation ahead of public safety.”
The petition states: “Boris Johnson’s actions during the pandemic amount to one of the gravest betrayals of the British public in modern history. His decisions, delays and refusal to listen to warnings cost tens of thousands of lives that could and should have been saved.
“He must be held accountable. We are not asking for an apology; we are asking for consequences. Boris Johnson should have no role in public life moving forward.
“We are now calling for every privilege of high office to be removed, including his access to the Public Duty Costs Allowance, his ministerial pension and his place on the Privy Council. It is unacceptable that bereaved families are expected to subsidise the lifestyle of the man whose decisions led to the deaths of our loved ones. That must end.”
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