Nicola Sturgeon says PM's alleged lockdown comments are 'eminently believable'

The SNP leader has said claims that Boris Johnson said he would rather see "bodies pile high in their thousands" than put the UK into a third lockdown are not "impossible to believe". 

Nicola Sturgeon stressed she does not know whether the Prime Minister did make the remark, which was alleged to have happened at a meeting last October when the prospect of reimposing restrictions was discussed. 

Johnson himself has denied making the supposed comments, while No 10 have also said the claim was a lie. 

When asked for her reaction to the reported comments, Sturgeon said the claims were "eminently believable". 

She said: "On the reported comments of the Prime Minister, I suppose I feel a mixture of shock but also lack of surprise. The first thing I should say, I don't know whether he said that because I wasn't there. 

"But I'm afraid to say based on my interactions with him, including over the past year, I don't find it impossible to believe. On the contrary, I think it is eminently believable. 

"In my interactions with him, the constant reaching for the glib phrase that he might think is clever or funny but most people find crass is not unusual and I think at moments in the pandemic, he has been reluctant to do the things that other people thought were necessary. 

"But the shock, not withstanding that, is that any human being, let alone any leader, would think something as glib about human life, let alone articulate those thoughts, I think most people will be profoundly shocked at. 

"I know he's said he didn't say it. Equally I've seen reports... that sources have confirmed it, so I don't know. I guess I don't find it impossible to believe, which perhaps tells its own story."

The Daily Mail quoted unidentified sources as saying that, in October, shortly after agreeing to a second lockdown, Johnson told a meeting in Downing Street: "No more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands."

Opposition parties say if there’s any truth to the reports, the Prime Minister should resign.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News: "It's not true - it's been categorically denied by practically everyone.”

He added: "We're getting into the sort of comedy chapter now of these gossip stories. You know, unnamed sources by unnamed advisers talking about unnamed events. You know, look, none of this is serious.”

Meanwhile, Sturgeon has said the SNP's manifesto commitments "will not require cuts or tax rises". 

It comes after the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned spending promises made by the SNP, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour are unlikely to be delivered without tax rises or cuts to other services.

It said all three parties underestimate how much will be needed to deliver some of their commitments, particularly in relation to health and social care.

However, Sturgeon said: "We have used the medium term financial strategy that the government published in January as the basis for the spending commitments we've made and... the strategy sets out three scenarios: high, central and low.

"We have costed our manifesto around the central scenario - in other words, the most likely scenario. 

"And actually in resource terms, the commitments in our manifesto come in at about half a billion pounds below that central scenario."