Boris Johnson has pushed back on comments by wannabe Prime Ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak - saying lockdown decisions during the Covid crisis were correct.
Both wannabe PMs have been accused of rewriting history to impress right-wing Tory members, claiming they were uncomfortable with restrictions at the time.
Former chancellor Mr Sunak claimed independent experts were given too much power, while Foreign Secretary Ms Truss last night questioned "draconian" measures put in place to save lives.
An inquiry into the response to the Covid crisis is underway, with bereaved families heavily critical of the government's failure to protect their loved ones.
Today the Prime Minister said that if the Government did not lock the country down during the pandemic, "the delays for cardiac, the delays for hips, the delays for cancer treatment, or the other procedures that people care about" would have been "even greater".
He added: "I'm just giving you my view, which is that the... about the decision to try to stop the spread of Covid, and with all the things that we did.
"Of course, the inquiry will have to look at those decisions. I'm very confident that they were the right ones. I just want to remind people of the logic because I think there's a bit of... it all gets turned upside down.
"People say, 'Oh, well, it was because of the lockdowns that people's health was impaired'. Actually, the purpose of using those methods, imperfect though they were, to restrict the spread of Covid, was to reduce the huge numbers in the NHS.
"Forty-thousand people at one stage occupying beds in the NHS because of Covid, and therefore, to reduce the numbers of patients with other complaints, other sicknesses, other needs, who were displaced by Covid, and are now coming back into the NHS. That was the purpose of what we were doing."
In his interview, Mr Sunak, one of the key players in Government during the crisis, said "if you empower all these independent people, you're screwed" and claimed the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) edited its minutes to hide dissenting opinions.
Sage members rejected Mr Sunak's characterisation of the situation, while former Number 10 insiders described his comments as "simply wrong".
Prof Graham Medley, a Sage member, said: "Government have the power, so if one member of Cabinet thinks that scientific advice was too 'empowered' then it is a criticism of their colleagues rather than the scientists.
"The Sage meetings were about the science, not the policy options, and the minutes reflect the scientific consensus at the time."
Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson's former senior adviser, said Mr Sunak's comments were "dangerous rubbish" and pinned the blame unfairly on Mr Johnson and others.
Neither Ms Truss nor Mr Sunak quit the government in protest at the measures at the time.
