London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Boris Johnson 'stable' in hospital and does not have pneumonia, Downing Street says

Follow the latest developments as we wait for updates on the condition of the prime minister after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, here is a full summary of the Downing Street lobby briefing.
Boris Johnson does not have pneumonia, Downing Street has said. Until now ministers and No 10 have refused to give a clear answer to this question. But asked if the PM has been diagnosed with pneumonia, the PM’s spokesman said: “That is not the case, no.”

The spokesman said that Johnson was “stable” overnight and “remains in good spirits”.
Downing Street has signalled that it does not want to take up Donald Trump’s offer of experimental coronavirus drugs for Boris Johnson.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, would take over if Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary who is deputising for the PM, got ill, the spokesman said. The spokesman said there was an established order of precedence in the government.

After Raab, Sunak, is the next most senior person in the government, the spokesman said. (The spokesman sidestepped a question about who was next in seniority, and “how long it would take before Thérèse Coffey took charge”, but the order of precedence is normally the order in which ministers are listed on the official No 10 website. In theory, after Sunak, Priti Patel, the home secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, are next in seniority - in that order. Coffey is 11th on the list.)

Raab does not have the authority to “hire and fire” people in government while he is deputising for the PM, the spokesman said.

The spokesman played down the prospect of the government announcing plans for an exit strategy from the lockdown anytime soon. He said that no was not the time to focus on this.

The spokesman refused to say when the government would announce whether or not the lockdown measures are being extended. When they were announced by the PM, they were scheduled to run for a three-week period which will be over next Monday. The spokesman said that announcement about whether they would be extended would not necessarily come that day. He did not rule out it happening this week.

He claimed there was no legal need for the lockdown to be renewed. [This is true in the short term, but the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, which give legal force to the lockdown measures in England, do have to be reviewed every 21 days, with the first review due by 16 April. And the regulations expire after six months.]

The spokesman refused to speculate on suggestions that schools could be opened before other lockdown measures are reversed (a proposal backed by University College London research published today).

The spokesman rejected claims that the PM was getting special treatment at the St Thomas’ Hospital. When asked about claims that a ventilator was being set aside for the PM, the spokesman said there was “significant spare capacity” available in hospitals, including ventilators.

The spokesman rejected claims that No 10 has not been fully frank with the media about the PM’s health. “We have a commitment to be as transparent as we can be throughout this process,” the spokesman said.
We have been fully frank with you throughout.

We have issued you with regular updates on the prime minister’s health.

His condition worsened yesterday afternoon. A decision was taken that he needed to be moved to an intensive care unit at around 7pm.

We informed you all as soon as was practically possible. We have a commitment to be as transparent as we can be throughout this process.

The spokesman said Raab would be able to authorise military action in the PM’s absence. The spokesman said that, if a national security council was needed, Raab would chair it in the PM’s absence. There was a robust national security architecture in place, the spokesman said. And he said it had the authority and ability to respond to a military threat in the PM’s absence.

The spokesman said Johnson had not spoken to Raab today.

Raab will not participate on the PM’s behalf in the weekly audience with the Queen, the spokesman said. The spokesman said that it has been agreed with Buckingham Palace that these weekly audiences will be suspended while the PM is ill.

The spokesman said Raab was feeling fine.
Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, is working as usual, the spokesman said. But he said Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, was still staying away from the office. Asked about the shortage of staff in No 10, the spokesman said it was “fully operational”.

Dominic Raab will lead the press conference later at 5pm. He will be joined by Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Prof Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×