'We did everything we could' - Boris Johnson marks sombre death toll as lives lost to coronavirus officially top 100,000

The Prime Minister insisted the Government “did everything that we could to minimise suffering and minimise loss of life in this country as a result of the pandemic”.

But he faced questions over why, when in April last year 20,000 deaths was described by the Government's chief science adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance as “a good outcome”, the grim figure now stood at five times this.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the milestone a “national tragedy”.

He said: “We must never become numb to these numbers or treat them as just statistics. Every death is a loved one, a friend, a neighbour, a partner or a colleague. It is an empty chair at the dinner table.”

While addressing the nation from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: “It is hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic, the years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended and, for so many relatives, the missed chance to even say goodbye.”

And he pledged that once the crisis was over “we will come together as a nation to remember everyone we lost”, and he said: “We will make sure that we learn the lessons and reflect and prepare.”