Jeremy Hunt says the government should have an ‘open mind’ about Covid-19 Wuhan lab leak theory
- Jeremy Hunt said the government should keep a ‘completely open mind’
- Read more: ’50 is no time to put your feet up,’ says Chancellor Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt has said that the Government should have a ‘completely open mind’ about whether the Covid-19 pandemic started as a result of a leak from a Chinese laboratory.
The Chancellor’s comments, in his interview with The Mail on Sunday, add to growing pressure on the Cabinet Office to review its assertion that it was ‘entirely coincidental’ that Covid was discovered close to a Chinese government laboratory.
It was revealed last week that former Health Secretary Matt Hancock was censored by the department over his concern that the virus was the result of a lab leak in Wuhan.
Mr Hancock was asked to remove passages from his book, Pandemic Diaries, in which he questioned China’s version of events because of concerns they would ‘cause problems’ and could ‘damage national security’ – Civil Service code for not wanting to upset Beijing.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith urged Ministers to release MI6 briefings about Covid’s origins to justify its initial dismissal of the lab theory.
The Chancellor’s comments, in his interview with The Mail on Sunday, add to growing pressure on the Cabinet Office to review its assertion that Covid was ‘entirely coincidental’
Mr Hancock was asked to remove passages from his book, Pandemic Diaries, in which he questioned China’s version of events
His intervention came after the US House of Representatives unanimously voted to declassify intelligence about China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. This newspaper has led the way globally in revealing a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to an accidental leak of the virus from the institute.
In the lab, scientists were carrying out experiments on coronaviruses sampled from bats more than 1,000 miles away.
Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, announced earlier this month that the origin of coronavirus was ‘most likely a potential lab incident’.
In his comments to the MoS, Mr Hunt said: ‘I think we should have a completely open mind about how it started and be very rigorous in following the evidence where it leads. And I don’t think we should discount the possibility of it happening in China because of a lab leak.’
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case oversaw the process by which Mr Hancock was told to delete references to a lab leak, with officials informing him that the Government believed the location of the first outbreak was ‘entirely coincidental’.
Last week, a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there are ‘still questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of Covid-19’. He added: ‘The UK wants to see a transparent, science-led review and believes all possibilities remain on the table until that is concluded.’
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