‘He doesn’t recall much, does he?’

Rishi Sunak was in the Covid Inquiry hot seat this week, where he was grilled over his controversial ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ discount hospitality scheme. During the six hours of questioning, Sunak insisted the scheme was the ‘right thing to do,’ while arguing his ‘Dr Death’ nickname was not justified.

But the Prime Minister appeared rattled during the session and failed to recollect vital details of the government’s response to the pandemic, not just once or twice, but 24 times.

Many shared their disproval of Sunak’s failure to remember key details of such important events. Kate Bell, TUC Assistant General Secretary said: “Rishi Sunak said under oath that it was important to learn the lessons of Covid. Yet he failed to recollect vital details of public interest on more than 20 occasions. And he refused time and again to take any responsibility for his actions.

“Without proper candour and accountability from our leaders, we risk making the same mistakes again.”

Others went online to share their disbelief at the PM’s seeming loss of memory. A video that recounted each time Sunak said he could not recall something that he was asked about by Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the Inquiry, such as changing phones at a specific time, went viral.

The clip has been viewed over 700,000 times, with thousands sharing and commenting on it.

“At least he’s admitted to his amnesia,” someone wrote.

“He seems to have ‘inadvertently’ misplaced his memory. Surely, he cannot continue being PM whilst suffering with such terrible memory loss,” was another comment.

“I don’t recall the country wanting him as prime minster,” someone else mocked.

Sharing the clip, Alastair Campbell posted: “I am not sure someone with such a bad memory should be in such a serious job.”

“Keith’s raised eyebrow at the end! Classic,” said another amused viewer.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward

Image credit: Twitter screen grab

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