Facts

On 24 July 2019, delivering his first speech as PM outside 10 Downing Street, Mr Johnson promised that his government would “fix the crisis in social care once and for all – with a clear plan we have prepared.”

Almost two years later Downing Street confessed they were still “working towards” getting cross-party support for ideas after the funding crisis was left out of the March Budget. 

At the same time, the PM’s Press Secretary Allegra Stratton admitted there “just hasn’t been the chance to look in detail” due to Covid-19.

She confessed the pandemic had been “dominating all of our waking moments inside government”, and Matt Hancock will only “have a chance” to re-examine the issue “when things calm down”.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak added: “Obviously right now our focus is the pandemic.”

In June 2021, Matt Hancock said that “we absolutely were working on the plan before the pandemic”, which contradicts the idea that the plan was already “clear” and “prepared”.

It was only in September 2021, more than two years later, that Johnson finally announced his plan for social care.

Verdict

Boris Johnson made a false statement, when he said that he had prepared a clear plan to fix social care in July 2019.  Allegra Stratton confirmed this in March 2021.