Boris Johnson Covid inquiry – live: ‘Dr Death’ Rishi Sunak to face next grilling as former PM finishes up

Rishi Sunak will be questioned about his actions during the Covid-19 pandemic when he appears before the hearing on Monday.

The Prime Minister was chancellor during the crisis and is likely to be questioned about the impact of his policies such as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Government advisers referred to Mr Sunak as “Dr Death” during the pandemic, WhatsApp messages shown to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry have revealed, because of concerns about the impact of his push to keep economic activity going.

The announcement that Mr Sunak will face a whole day of questioning on Monday came as former prime minister Boris Johnson began his second day of questioning.

On Thursday Covid inquiry chair Baroness Hallet slapped down Boris Johnson’s defence of Partygate, telling him the scandal “exacerbated” the suffering of bereaved families during the pandemic.

The former prime minister earlier dismissed the Partygate revelations as “a million miles from the reality of what actually happened in Number 10”. He hit out at “dramatic” representations of the controversy, calling them a “travesty of the truth” and “absolutely absurd”.

Key Points

• Baroness Hallett: ‘Partygate exacerbated pain of Covid bereaved’

• Partygate stories have been a ‘travesty of the truth’, says Johnson

• Boris Johnson admits he called his own rules ‘stupid'

• Johnson: ‘Perplexed’ Vallance and Whitty were not consulted on Eat Out to Help Out

• Watch: Boris Johnson heckled as he arrives at Covid Inquiry for second day

• Watch live: Johnson faces grilling on second day of giving evidence to Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson appears to talk down the clock on questions about Covid’s impact on minorities

04:00 , Sam Rkaina

Recap: Johnson described schools facemask policy as ‘totally f***** up’

03:00 , Sam Rkaina

Boris Johnson referred to his own Government’s facemask policy as “f***** up” in the summer of 2020, the Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.

It also emerged the former prime minister would “bullshit ‘no surrender’ ideas” from his ministers and then come to regret it later.

Mr Johnson was being questioned on Thursday about his u-turn on policies around facemasks in secondary schools in August 2020.

At the time, then-education secretary Gavin Williamson had insisted measures being adopted by schools to limit the spread of coronavirus meant masks were not required.

However, the Government revised its recommendations following updated guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which said: “Children aged 12 and over should wear a mask under the same conditions as adults”.

A statement from the Department for Education on August 25 2020 said that “nationwide, while the government is not recommending face coverings are necessary, schools will have the discretion to require face coverings in communal areas if they believe that is right in their particular circumstances”.

Gasps as Boris Johnson snaps at Covid inquiry lawyer over death toll figures

02:02 , Sam Rkaina

Recap: Johnson calls partygate portrayals ‘absurd’ as he finishes Covid evidence

01:14 , Sam Rkaina

Boris Johnson lashed out at some of the “absolutely absurd” characterisations of the partygate debacle as he completed two days of at-times combative and emotional evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry.

The former prime minister insisted on Thursday he was not “reconciled” to Covid deaths or believed it necessary to “let it rip” in the autumn of 2020.

On the final day of his highly-anticipated appearance, he said he was “perplexed” at claims from top scientists that ministers failed to consult them on Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Much of the questioning on Thursday focused on the sequence of decision-making leading to the second national lockdown and later restrictions, while also touching on revelations of rule-breaking inside Number 10.

Mr Johnson appeared to become emotional during some of the discussions as he rejected suggestions he did not care about the suffering of the public and discussed his own admittance to intensive care.

It came as inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC pressed Mr Johnson about the lockdown-breaching parties that were held in Downing Street and the impact on public confidence.

Boris Johnson ‘sad’ his testimony for Covid Inquiry is over as he asks for new investigation

00:01 , Sam Rkaina

John Rentoul answers your burning questions as Boris Johnson is grilled at the Covid inquiry

Thursday 7 December 2023 23:12 , Sam Rkaina

The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul explains all you need to know as Boris Johnson faces the Covid inquiry.

It comes after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced two days of questioning at the Covid inquiry - with answers that have illicited more questions from our readers.

Click here for analysis of what Mr Johnson did - and didn’t - say during his public grilling.

Watch: Johnson shown all times he said ‘let Covid rip’ in uncomfortable inquiry moment

Thursday 7 December 2023 22:00 , Tara Cobham

Johnson claims Partygate coverage is ‘million miles’ from truth

Thursday 7 December 2023 21:30 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson embarked on an extraordinary re-writing of history over Partygate as he gave evidence to the Covid inquiry, insisting the public’s perception of lockdown-breaching parties in Number 10 was a “million miles” from the truth.

In comments that will infuriate families bereaved during the Covid pandemic, the former prime minister said the representation of repeated gatherings during the pandemic was “absolutely absurd”.

Pressed about the saga — which sparked his eventual downfall as PM — Mr Johnson said the way Partygate has been presented was a “travesty of truth”.

Archie Mitchell reports:

Johnson: Partygate coverage is ‘million miles’ from truth

In pictures: Bereaved families protest at inquiry on second day of Johnson’s evidence

Thursday 7 December 2023 21:00 , Tara Cobham

The key Covid revelations from Boris Johnson today

Thursday 7 December 2023 20:30 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson fell silent for three minutes at the Covid inquiry on Thursday morning as he was confronted by all the times he talked about “letting it rip” through the population.

The former prime minister has been in largely good spirits responding to questioning from Hugo Keith KC, the probe’s lead counsel.

But Mr Johnson looked distinctly uneasy as he was shown five damning diary extracts by Sir Patrick Vallance.

Archie Mitchell reports:

From Eat Out to Help Out to ‘let it rip’: The key Covid revelations today

Johnson says it is ‘very, very important’ to get answers to how virus originated

Thursday 7 December 2023 20:00 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said it is “very, very important” to get the answers to how the virus originated at the end of giving two days of evidence at the UK Covid-19 inquiry.

The former prime minister said valuable testimony had been given to the inquiry, and that he hoped it would help to bring the issues of health and social care together.

Baroness Heather Hallett, chairwoman of the inquiry, thanked Mr Johnson for his evidence, saying: “Thank you very much indeed Mr Johnson, I know how difficult it must be to have two days giving evidence.”

Mr Johnson replied: “No. I am rather sad that it’s over. I may not see you again, so I just wanted to say one thing, which is that I do think all the testimony and the evidence is incredibly valuable.”

He added: “The issues of health and social care are absolutely critical, and the government that I led was embarked on a big programme to try and bring them together. I think the fact that we had those delayed discharge patients was very, very difficult in the NHS. I hope that this inquiry will give a kick to the powers that be to make sure that we really address that.”

Making a “final point”, Mr Johnson concluded: “I know it’s outside your scope, but I do think that the British public and future governments will need to be elucidated about exactly how this thing originated.

“I don’t think the inquiry can look into it yourselves, but some sort of prod to the world to get the answer to the real origins of Covid, I think is going to be very, very important.”

Argumentative, angry and arm-waving: The old Boris Johnson was back

Thursday 7 December 2023 19:30 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson spent much of the day apologising again, but the one time he actually looked embarrassed was when it was revealed he told a meeting: “F*** YOU Daily Mail”. Never mind 220,000 excess deaths, what would he tell the editor of his tabloid employer?

“I am sorry to have said this about the Daily Mail,” croaked the overpaid columnist when his words appeared on the big screen. It was his umpteenth saying of sorry, but this time, as the movies say, he meant it.

You knew this was going to be a tough day for Johnson because he started being nice to “hard worker” Matt Hancock. If a drowning man clutches at Hancock, he must be desperate. The former health secretary is more of a dead weight than a lifebelt these days but, crucially for Boris’s legal case, he had backed the PM on rejecting a circuit breaker lockdown in October 2020, perhaps one of the worst blunders of the pandemic.

Read more here:

Argumentative, angry and arm-waving: The old Boris was back | Joe Murphy

Bereaved daughter says Johnson ‘couldn’t even face us’ outside covid inquiry

Thursday 7 December 2023 19:21 , Eric Williams

Emma de Saint Esteban, a teacher who lost her father to Covid-19, said Johnson and members of his government “need to be made accountable” but said it would take years.

“Johnson has ruined a lot of people’s lives, including mine. As a teacher, I was labeled as an essential worker. I went into school and brought Covid back. Dad then caught it, went into hospital, and never came back.

“For a long time I have felt responsible. I’ve had to get help about it. But that’s why I’m here today - because ultimately he is responsible. I worked hard, I followed the rules, I did everything right. And all the while they were having parties. It’s disgusting.

“When I lost my dad I emailed Boris Johnson and James Cleverly, my MP. Neither got back to me.”

She continued stating that the former prime minister “couldn’t even face us” outside the inquiry.

“We’re nothing to that man,” she added saying that even Johnson’s appearance at the trial appeared disrespectful.

In pictures: Bereaved families protest outside Covid inquiry

Thursday 7 December 2023 19:11 , Eric Williams

Long Covid Support charity: ‘We did not get the answers today. Instead, we got more bluster’

Thursday 7 December 2023 19:09 , Eric Williams

As the Covid inquiry continues, many gathered to demonstrate outside Dorland House in London.

Clare Hastie, founder of the Long Covid Support charity, said: “We did not get the answers today. Instead, we got more bluster.”

Speaking about the support group members, Hastie said: “People are not recovering. They are getting worse.

“He [Johnson] doesn’t regret the dismissal or denial that has hurt so many of us and stopped proper research into treatment.”

Johnson rejects showing dismissive attitude to trade unions

Thursday 7 December 2023 19:00 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson was shown an extract from Sir Patrick Vallance’s diary in which he said “we can’t have the bollocks of consulting with employees and trade unions”.

The diary entry is dated July 2021. Asked by counsel Samuel Jacobs on behalf of the TUC if that showed a dismissive attitude to trade unions, Mr Johnson rejected that characterisation.

“This is July 2021, we’ve vaccinated a huge proportion of the population, faster than any other European country, I’m determined to get people back to work if I possibly can.”

He told the inquiry he had “nothing against consultation”.

“What I didn’t want to see was a drag anchor being put on people getting back into the workplace after the colossal changes that we’d been able to make in the pandemic.”

Watch: Johnson ‘sad’ testimony for Inquiry is over as he asks for new investigation

Thursday 7 December 2023 18:30 , Tara Cobham

Johnson would regret backing ministers’ ‘b******t “no surrender” ideas’

Thursday 7 December 2023 18:00 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson would back “b******t ‘no surrender’ ideas” from his ministers then come to regret it later, the Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.

The probe was shown WhatsApp messages between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings and former Downing Street director of communications Lee Cain from August 2020. In it they were discussing the u-turn on advice on facemasks in schools.

Mr Case said the former prime minister had been advised to “create permissive guidance around masks” weeks earlier “because we could foresee it was going to be a drama in Sept”.

The exchange claims then education secretary Gavin Williamson was in “no surrender mode” and “didn’t want to give an inch to the unions, so said we should hold firm. PM gave him full support in this approach.”

The messages go on to say: “At every turn, PM backs bullshit “no surrender” ideas from Hancock/Williamson/Shapps then totally regrets it later.”

Mr Case also referred to scientists as “slow and too purist”, adding that Number 10 was finding it “impossible to hold debatable positions” due to a “massive trust deficit” with the Government.

Watch: Gasps as Johnson snaps at Covid inquiry lawyer over death toll figures

Thursday 7 December 2023 17:30 , Tara Cobham

Gasps were heard in the public gallery at the Covid inquiry on Thursday (7 December) as Boris Johnson snapped at a lawyer over coronavirus death toll figures.

Pete Weatherby KC, representing Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, asked questions about the former prime minister’s statement in which he said the UK “ended the pandemic, or the most serious phases of it, well down the global league tables for excess mortality.”

Mr Weatherby described the statement as a “sweeping assertion” before Mr Johnson snapped: “I don’t believe that your evidence stacks up,” which was met with gasps.

Holly Patrick reports:

Gasps as Boris Johnson snaps at Covid inquiry lawyer over death toll figures

Johnson refers to Government’s facemask policy as ‘f***** up'

Thursday 7 December 2023 17:15 , Tara Cobham

Former prime minister Boris Johnson referred to the Government’s facemask policy in the summer of 2020 as “f***** up”, the Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.

Mr Johnson was shown a WhatsApp exchange between himself and former chief adviser Dominic Cummings from August 2020.

Mr Johnson wrote: “I am on a train trying to make sense of our totally f***** up facemask policy.”

When pressed by core participant Samuel Jacobs, who is representing Trades Union Congress (TUC), he said: “The adjective I use, which I won’t repeat, was intended to convey my sense that a mask policy which had been in position, one, was going to have to change because of changing scientific advice and changing appreciation of the value of masks.

“That was the reality. It was going to be politically difficult to to execute, but we were going to have to do it.”

‘Shame on you’: Johnson jeered as he leaves Covid inquiry after two days of evidence

Thursday 7 December 2023 17:13 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson was jeered as he left the Covid-19 inquiry after two days of giving evidence.

Protesters outside shouted “murderer” and “shame on you” as he left Dorland House in west London to his awaiting car.

Watch: Johnson accused of talking down clock on questions about Covid’s impact on minorities

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:58 , Tara Cobham

Baroness Hallet’s final back-and-forth with Johnson at inquiry

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:47 , Tara Cobham

As he finished giving evidence, Boris Johnson urged the UK Covid inquiry to look into the origins of coronavirus. Inquiry chair Baroness Hallet replied: “Mr Johnson, you set my terms of reference...”

Johnson ‘rather sad it’s all over’ as he finishes evidence

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:46 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson finished giving evidence on the second day of of his two-day grilling at the UK Covid inquiry by saying he was “rather sad that it’s all over”.

Johnson stands by ‘Freedom Day’ decision despite prevalence of Covid

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:43 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has stood by his government’s decision to called 19 July 2021 ‘Freedom Day’ despite Covid remaining prevalent in the UK.

The former prime minister said: “It wasn’t an irrational choice of expression... I don’t think it was an inappropriate way to talk about it.”

Brian Stanton, on behalf of British Medical Association (BMA), asked if the government should have done more to encourage a precautionary approach, to which Mr Johnson replied: “Honestly, no.”

Boris Johnson grilled over ‘malingering work shy people’ comments

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:28 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson is being grilled over why he called people “malingering” and “work shy” before launching a back to office drive in summer 2021.

The former prime minister was recorded by Sir Patrick Vallance as saying: “We can’t have the b******s of consulting with employees and unions. They need to all come back to work.

“All the malingering work shy people.”

Mr Johnson said his worry was that “people were going to be slow” to acknowledge the success of the UK’s vaccine rollout and staff would continue working from home.

He went on to claim that he wanted a strong economic recovery because it would benefit trade union members and their families.

Johnson rejects suggestion Westminster was ‘high-handed’ in pandemic

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:27 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has rejected the suggestion there was a “high-handed, incommunicative approach from Westminster” in the pandemic, insisting the Government had “excellent communications” with the devolved nations of the UK.

The former prime minister did however accept that there had been “blurred” messaging on occasion because of “a succession of press conferences from different parts of the UK”.

Mr Johnson said there had sometimes been “a dissonance in the message” when ideally there would have been “complete coherence”.

Aine Fox reports:

Boris Johnson rejects suggestion Westminster was ‘high-handed’ in pandemic

Bereaved families: ‘Johnson did not “get the big calls right”... he failed to take Covid seriously’

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:24 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK campaign group said Boris Johnson’s evidence sessions show he did not “get the big calls right”.

The former prime minister “failed to take the pandemic seriously in early 2020 leaving us brutally unprepared, and failed to learn from his mistakes meaning that the second wave had an even higher death toll than the first”, it added.

Spokesman Becky Kummer said: “Even when he knew measures needed to be taken to protect lives, he delayed for fear of how it might impact his reputation with certain sections of the press.”

Johnson regrets language used but stressed importance of ‘saying things simply'

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:21 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has apologised for “all hurt and offence caused” by his language recorded during the pandemic after he was criticised for his use of “florid” words and phrases as a government official.

The former prime minister said comments such as that old people have “had a good innings” or “are going to die anyway” were “not intended for publication”.

And he said that decision-makers need to be able to “say things simply” even if “taken out of context they appear unfeeling or uncaring”, adding that his “blunt and unpolished” words “represented the layman”.

He said he did not recognise some words, as he claimed that “a lot of what has been reported has been incorrect”.

Johnson denies being ‘shamefully ageist’

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:11 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has denied that it was “shamefully ageist” for saying things such as that “older people should just accept their fate rather than destroying the economy”.

The former prime minister said: “I was doing my best to reflect what was a debate that was very much live.”

Watch: Gasps as Johnson snaps at Covid inquiry lawyer over death toll figures

Thursday 7 December 2023 16:01 , Tara Cobham

‘We were not prepared to close schools,’ Johnson admits

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:59 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has admitted the government was “not prepared suddenly to be forced to close schools”.

The former prime minister told the Covid inquiry the pandemic was a “once in a century event” and it was “fair” to say there was no plan in place to close schools.

Johnson insists disparaging long Covid remarks were ‘reasonable’

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:56 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has insisted he was “making a reasonable question” when voicing doubts over the existence of long Covid by comparing the debilitating illness to Gulf War Syndrome.

He said he “recognised the hurt those words must have caused to those with long Covid and their very real suffering”, but caveated: “I was making a reasonable question.”

Johnson refuses to agree institutional racism caused disproportionate impact of Covid

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:40 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has refused to agree that the disproportionate impact of Covid on minority ethnic healthcare workers resulted from institutional racism.

When the point was put to him by Leslie Thomas KC, from the Federation of Ethnic Minority Healthcare Organisations (FEMHO), the former prime minister said: “I’m not certain of that.”

Johnson said he had not seen a Public Health England report that Mr Thomas said had come to this conclusion.

‘We built new hospitals’: Johnson pressed on protective measures for minority ethnic groups

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:37 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has been pressed on what protective measures his government put in place to protect vulnerable and minority ethnic groups who were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

The former prime minister said: “What we didn’t at that stage know is the extent to which the virus itself would impact different groups differently. That was really only to become apparent in the weeks ahead.”

However, focusing on the disparities faced by Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) healthcare workers, Leslie Thomas KC, from the Federation of Ethnic Minority Healthcare Organisations (FEMHO), pressed the former prime minister. He said the first 10 doctors who died were from minority ethnic backgrounds, which showed it “became apparent very early on” how the pandemic impacted different groups differently.

Mr Johnson went on to cite his widely criticised new hospital building programme when asked what action he took to mitigate the disparities.

The former prime minister said he wanted to make sure NHS staff had “greater protection, above all by being less overworked”.

“One of the things we did was not only to embark on a big programme of hospital building, but recruiting some 50,000 more nurses,” Mr Johnson added.

He said: “If you are a nurse or frontline worker, then clearly one of the best ways to mitigate the risk that you face and the disproportionate risks that you face as a as a BAME frontline care worker is having an extra pair of hands to help you.”

Boris Johnson says nothing he could have done to stop Partygate

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:18 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson addressed the Partygate scandal as he was grilled at the UK’s Covid inquiry on Thursday (7 December).

The former prime minister was repeatedly questioned about whether he could have done more to stop the Partygate gatherings.

“People were working extremely hard,” Mr Johnson said before he was interrupted by interrogator Brenda Campbell KC. “We’ve heard that before,” she said.

She asked Mr Johnson for a “yes or no” answer to her question “Could you have done more to stop it?”.

“No,” Mr Johnson said.

Lucy Leeson reports:

Boris Johnson says nothing he could have done to stop Partygate

Johnson is ‘doing extremely well’ at inquiry, says Nadine Dorries

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:03 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson is “doing extremely well” at the UK Covid inquiry, Nadine Dorries has said.

Johnson on ‘pointless political friction’ between government and DAs

Thursday 7 December 2023 15:00 , Tara Cobham

In his witness statement, the inquiry was told Mr Johnson has said: “It’s optically wrong for the UK prime minister to hold regular meetings with other devolved administrations’ ministers.”

Explaining the remark to the probe, he said that one of the considerations was the “risk of pointless political friction and grandstanding because of the well-known opposition of some of the devolved administrations to the Government and to avoid necessary leaks”.

He added that he thought the “way to minimise divergence and tensions was to take the temperature down and to have a business-like and practical meetings between the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the DAs”.

‘I had no ill will toward Nicola Sturgeon,’ says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:49 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson told the Covid inquiry he had “no ill will” towards Nicola Sturgeon, despite his former top aide Ed Lister saying they “didn’t like each other very much”.

The former PM said he was “sorry to hear Eddie said that”, and insisted he and Ms Sturgeon “got on very well and had a friendly relationship”.

But in Lord Lister’s evidence, talking about a meeting between Mr Johnson and the former Scottish first minister, he said: “There was quite a lot of tension between the Prime Minister and the First Minister, they had no real personal relationship of any kind other than that they, I think, generally didn't like each other very much.”

Watch: Johnson says nothing he could have done to stop Partygate

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:41 , Tara Cobham

‘Terrible’ but ‘inevitable’ to have to close schools again in January 2021 - Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:28 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said it was “terrible” but “inevitable” to have to close schools again in January 2021 after the emergence of the more transmissible Alpha variant of the virus.

He told the inquiry: “It’s always the most vulnerable families, it’s the poorest kids who come off worse from school closures. And that was definitely the case, we’d seen that in the first lockdown without a shadow of a doubt.

“So we were desperate to keep schools open.”

He insisted he did “fight and fight and fight in my heart and head to keep schools open”.

He added: “I really wanted to do it, but it just wasn’t a runner and we had to lock everything down.”

He said he had “listened respectfully” to his many colleagues, including then education secretary Gavin Williamson, who wanted to keep schools open.

Mr Johnson said: “The fact is that, sadly, schools are terrific reservoirs of the virus. And in the cold winter months, they were going to be a big vector of transmission for elderly people and it wasn’t a runner.”

‘We should’ve told people in No10 to think about behaviour,’ reads Johnson’s 2021 message

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:21 , Tara Cobham

A WhatsApp conversation between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and then-prime minister Boris Johnson was shown to the inquiry.

Counsel Hugo Keith said it was sent “around that time of the revelation of the partying in Downing Street”.

On December 17 2021 Mr Johnson wrote: “In retrospect we all should have told people – above all Lee Cain – to think about their behaviour in number ten and how it would look. But now we must smash on.”

Boris Johnson’s rewriting of history on Partygate ‘desperate’, Lib Dems

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:19 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

The Liberal Democrats have slammed Boris Johnson’s attempt to rewrite history on Partygate as “desperate”.

The former prime minister told the Covid inquiry the media portrayal of Downing Street parties has left the public with an impression that is “a million miles from the reality of what actually happened in No10”.

But Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper told The Independent: “These parties were investigated by the police and Boris Johnson accepted a fine for breaking lockdown rules. It's baffling that he continues to try and deceive the country.

“Boris Johnson cannot expect his apology to be taken seriously when he continues his desperate attempt to rewrite history.”

‘We moved heaven and earth to get PPE and tests,’ Johnson tells inquiry

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:18 , Tara Cobham

On personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing for Covid-19, Boris Johnson told the pandemic inquiry that as soon as the government recognised the scale of the problem they “moved heaven and earth to get both”.

Mr Johnson said: “I have explained that we didn’t understand the scale and the pace of the of the virus’s advance but, even if we had, I don’t believe that it would have made that much difference in January because the stocks were not great around the world.

“And if you remember what happened, we had a terrible situation in March when there were struggles virtually at airports over consignments of PPE.”

The former prime minister said that early on he was told that “we did have a very good test and trace system and ample preparations but that turned out not to be true”, adding: “The UK’s diagnostics industry was not as well developed when the pandemic began as others.

“And that was because I was being told in those early weeks that we were well covered – that turned out not to be true. We reacted.

“We then set up one of the biggest testing industries in Europe, and I want to thank Dido Harding very much for everything she did. I also want to thank Paul Deighton for what he did on securing PPE.”

Johnson says there is nothing he could have done to stop Partygate

Thursday 7 December 2023 14:10 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson came under intense pressure over whether there was anything more he could have done to prevent the Partygate scandal.

The former prime minister was repeatedly questioned about whether he could have done more, and sought to deflect by saying he “had no knowledge” of the events.

“People were working extremely hard,” Mr Johnson said before he was interrupted by interrogator Brenda Campbell KC, who is representing bereaved families. “We’ve heard that before,” she said.

She asked for a yes or no, “could you have done more to stop it?”.

“Given what I knew at time, the answer is no,” Mr Johnson said.

He added: “But what I could’ve done was issue a general instruction about the rules and how they appear.”

It was put to him that a bereaved family member described the Downing Street parties as“galling and sickening”, to which he said: “I understand fully the point that you are making and I regret it very much.”

Johnson claims Partygate coverage is ‘million miles’ from truth

Thursday 7 December 2023 13:58 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson embarked on an extraordinary re-writing of history over Partygate as he gave evidence to the Covid inquiry, insisting the public’s perception of lockdown-breaching parties in Number 10 was a “million miles” from the truth.

In comments that will infuriate families bereaved during the Covid pandemic, the former prime minister said the representation of repeated gatherings during the pandemic was “absolutely absurd”.

Pressed about the saga — which sparked his eventual downfall as PM — Mr Johnson said the way Partygate has been presented was a “travesty of truth”.

Archie Mitchell reports:

Johnson: Partygate coverage is ‘million miles’ from truth

Johnson blamed Welsh Covid rates on ‘singing and obesity’, Vallance diary claims

Thursday 7 December 2023 13:56 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson allegedly blamed high rates of Covid-19 in Wales on “singing and obesity”.

The apparent comments were included in the diary of Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s former chief scientific adviser.

They were dated September 2020.

Sir Patrick wrote: “Wales very high – PM says ‘It is the singing and the obesity… I never said that’.”

The full context of the alleged comments is unclear.

Mr Johnson was presented with the diary extract by Pete Weatherby KC, who represents Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday, but he was not asked about the entry.

Parts of Wales in September 2020 were among the areas of the UK hardest hit by the virus.

Inquiry chair urges public gallery to stop making noise during Johnson’s evidence

Thursday 7 December 2023 13:40 , Tara Cobham

Baroness Heather Hallett, chairwoman of the UK Covid-19 public inquiry, urged members of the public gallery to stop making noise during Boris Johnson’s evidence.

Pete Weatherby KC, who represents the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, was probing part of the former prime minister’s statement to the inquiry where he said that the “United Kingdom has defied most of the gloomier predictions and has ended the pandemic, or the most serious phases of it, well down the global league tables for excess mortality”.

Mr Johnson said: “The point I was making, and which I stand by, is that the UK, the tables I’ve seen, actually comes about halfway down.

“This is not in any way to diminish the pain and the suffering of people who lost family members during Covid, it is to reflect the enormous effort made by the whole of the UK to protect the NHS and save lives.”

Mr Weatherby said: “You’ve raised this in your statement, you made a sweeping assertion that the UK defied the more gloomy predictions, I’m putting to some cold steel of evidence.”

To which Mr Johnson replied: “But I don’t believe that your evidence stacks up”, which drew jeers from the public gallery.

Lady Hallett said: “I’m sorry, I know that emotions are running high but I have to ask those in the public gallery to keep quiet, whatever their emotions, because it’s going to disrupt the proceedings and it affects the live feed, the streaming for other people trying to follow.

“I’m really sorry. I do understand, but it has to stop.”

Johnson rejects claims he ‘didn’t care’ about nation’s 'suffering’ during pandemic

Thursday 7 December 2023 13:21 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has rejected claims that he “didn’t care” about the “suffering that was being inflicted on the country” during the pandemic.

Hugo Keith, counsel to the Covid-19 Inquiry, questioned the former prime minister on rule-breaking in Number 10 at the time.

He put to Mr Johnson: “You knew how it would look but you didn’t care that much.”

Mr Johnson said the inquiry has “dwelt particularly on WhatsApp exchanges and various things I’m supposed to have said which indicate that I didn’t care”.

Becoming emotional, he added: “I did care and I continue to get passionately about it, and I haven’t talked about this before in public.

“It goes to what you were saying earlier about elderly people and what you claim is my indifference to the pandemic.

“When I went into intensive care, I saw around me a lot of people who were not actually elderly. In fact, they were middle-aged men and they were quite like me – and some of us were going to make it and some of us weren’t.

“What I’m trying to tell you in a nutshell – and the NHS, thank god, did an amazing job and helped me survive – but I knew from that experience what appalling a disease this is. I had absolutely no personal doubt about that, from March onwards.

“To say that I didn’t care about the suffering that was being inflicted on the country is simply not right.”

Boris Johnson said ‘f*** you Daily Mail’

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:57 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Daily Mail columnist Boris Johnson wanted to tell the newspaper “f*** you” during the pandemic, Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries reveal.

The former PM was recorded in a meeting with Sir Patrick as saying: “Everyone says the rule of six is so unfair, punishing the young but “F*** YOU Daily Mail - look this is all about stopping deaths.

“We need to tell them.”

Mr Johnson quickly apologised for his language after the diary extract was read out to the inquiry.

And he profusely apologised to the “great organisation” he now writes a weekly column for.

“I am sorry to have said this about the Daily Mail," Mr Johnson said.

He added: “I don't think that was meant to be a general criticism of that great organisation [they must have] said something that had wound me up about the rule of six or whatever.”

Baroness Hallett: ‘Partygate exacerbated pain of Covid bereaved’

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:40 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Covid inquiry chair Baroness Hallet has slapped down Boris Johnson’s defence of the Partygate scandal, saying that Partygate “exacerbated” the suffering of families bereaved during the pandemic.

“One of the problems is that I've received a number of messages from bereaved people as I've travelled around the United Kingdom, and so many of them who suffered horrific grief during lockdown,” Baroness Hallett said.

She added that the Partygate scandal “exacerbated” the suffering.

To say I did not care about the suffering is ‘simply not right’, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:39 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said that to suggest he did not care about people suffering during the pandemic is “simply not right”.

The former prime minister opened up emotionally about his time in intensive care with the virus and how “from that experience I knew what an appalling disease this is”.

Inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC hit back, however, saying: “Mr Johnson, I have never suggested you didn't care about the suffering.

“I suggested you didn't care. About the reaction to the behaviour [in Downing Street].”

Watch: Whitty called Sunak’s Covid scheme ‘eat out to help out the virus’, Johnson says

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:39 , Tara Cobham

Johnson: ‘We should have told people to behave better… but let’s smash on’

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:38 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said he should have told people to behave better in Downing Street during the pandemic, but added “now we must smash on”.

He told cabinet secretary Simon Case that he was “really sorry” for the “grief” the Partygate scandal was causing him. “This whole business is insane,” he said in a WhatsApp exchange seen by the inquiry.

Mr Case replied to the PM: “Thanks PM, it is a bit grim, but hopefully it will pass.”

And the former prime minister wrote back: “In retrospect we all should have told people - above all [comms chief] Lee Cain - to think about their behaviour in No10 and how it would look.

“But now we must smash on.”

Partygate stories have been a ‘travesty of the truth’, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:20 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson mounted an incredible defence of his behaviour – and that of Whitehall officials – during the pandemic, saying the Partygate scandal has been misrepresented by the media.

The former prime minister said the way lockdown-busting gatherings in Downing Street have been presented is a “travesty of the truth”.

And Mr Johnson told the Covid inquiry: “The version of events that has entered the popular consciousness about what is supposed to have happened in Downing Street is a million miles from the reality of what actually happened in No10.”

He said that some of the representations of what happened have been “absolutely absurd”, “dramatic”, and “a million miles from the reality of what happened”.

Mr Johnson said that Whitehall officials “thought they were working very hard, which they were,” adding: “I certainly thought that what we were doing was within the rules.”

However, he added: “I understand and apologise for the offence that has been caused. If I had my time again of course I would’ve done things differently in No10.”

‘I continue to regret Partygate,’ says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:19 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said he “continues to regret” lockdown-busting parties which took place in Downing Street during the pandemic.

And he said: “I take full responsibility for everything that the government did during the pandemic.”

Barnard Castle affair was ‘a bad day’ and ‘obviously damaging’, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:18 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said the Barnard Castle was “a bad day” and “was obviously damaging” to trust in the government’s Covid policies.

“I won’t pretend otherwise,” the former PM said.

Cummings never told me he was going to Barnard Castle, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:14 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said that Dominic Cummings did not tell him he was going to Durham with his family during the pandemic, despite the ex-top aide claiming he did.

The inquiry heard a claim from Mr Cummings that he told the PM and Mr Johnson must have forgotten because of his bout with Covid.

But Mr Johnson said: “I would have noted that.”

The inquiry has previously seen a WhatsApp message from Mr Johnson to another official calling Mr Cummings a “total and utter liar”.

Omicron was ‘absolutely terrifying’, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:12 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said the Omicron Covid variant was “absolutely terrifying”.

“It was very transmissible. And there seemed a real risk that it would do a huge huge amount of damage to people,” Mr Johnson told the Covid inquiry.

Boris Johnson: I finally had a handle on the data… by December 2021

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:09 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said he had a “pretty good handle on the data” by the end of 2021, almost two years after the pandemic emerged.

“By then I was watching it very closely,” the former prime minister told the Covid inquiry.

Speaking about the middle and later parts of December 2021, Mr Johnson said: “I think this was one of those occasions, possibly rare, when I felt that I, I may be flattering myself, but I felt I got a pretty good handle on the on the data by then and I was watching it very closely.”

Watch: Boris ‘perplexed’ Vallance and Whitty weren’t consulted on Eat Out to Help Out

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:08 , Tara Cobham

Johnson defends tier system

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:07 , Tara Cobham

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has defended the Covid restrictions tier system, introduced in autumn 2020, saying that he wanted to “keep going with a regional approach” rather than opting for a national “circuit breaker” lockdown.

Asked about calls for a circuit breaker in September, he told the pandemic inquiry that he was told “if you do one, it may not be enough and you may have to do another” and described it as a “yo-yo risk”.

He said: “I want to try to just remind everybody of the context, but when we’re coming out of the first lockdown, because what’s happening is that the disease is very diversely spread over over the country. And there are parts of the UK where it’s barely present.

“Some places, sadly, Leicester, some parts of the north barely came out of restrictions throughout 2020. And so the question would have been, do we continue with national measures the whole time… that would just write off 2020.

“Or do you try what we tried, which is to respect and reflect the geography of the outbreak, and to say: ‘Well, we’re not going to close a hospitality in Devon and Cornwall because of whatever is happening in in the West Midlands or elsewhere’.

“And that for a while, seemed to a lot of people to be a sensible way forward – that led to tiering and I think it was worth a try because of the difficulties with the circuit breaker concept.”

He added: It wasn’t that I was against going into a national lockdown, per se or that I had set my mind absolutely against it. But I thought that a regional approach was a sensible way to go to and it was worth trying.”

Johnson queried whether elderly should be given choice to shield, hears inquiry

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:06 , Tara Cobham

The pandemic inquiry heard that in August 2020, Boris Johnson queried whether it would be feasible to give elderly people choice to shield themselves ahead of a second wave of cases.

He asked top science and medical advisers whether over-65s should be given the choice to enter “spontaneous self-preservation and keep themselves to themselves or run the risk of hugging their grandchildren and engaging filly in society”.

But Mr Johnson said the policy was not pursued because he was told: “Even if you’ve elected to be shielded, or even if the government is trying to shield this segment of the of the population, it is not going to work because the infectiousness is too great.”

Boris Johnson: ‘I fought in my heart and head to keep schools open’

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:05 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said he “fought in my heart and head” to keep schools open, but it “wasn’t a runner”.

The former prime minister said it is “the poorest kids who come up worse from school closures” and he “really wanted to” avoid the measure.

He was quizzed over former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson’s claim that he was overruled, having himself tried to keep schools open.

But Mr Johnson said schools were “reservoirs of the virus” and “were going to be a big vector of transmission for elderly people”.

“And it wasn’t a runner,” Mr Johnson said.

Johnson refuses to accept 2020 pandemic decision-making was too late

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:04 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said he did not accept pandemic decision-making in 2020 had been too late.

Inquiry lawyer Hugo Keith KC said: “Mr Johnson, what were the consequences of making decisions too late? When you said those words to your colleagues on the Covid-S meeting on the 21st of September, what did you have in mind by consequences and the decision-making having been too late?”

Mr Johnson replied: “Clearly if you make any decision too late then there’s going to be a cost and in the case of Covid there’s a cost in human life.

“What I wouldn’t accept is that all the decisions in September, October, November (2020) were too late.

“Nor would I accept, knowing what we did then, that the decision in March (2020) was too late.”

Johnson describes pandemic cabinet as ‘performative’

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:03 , Tara Cobham

Inquiry lawyer Hugo Keith said it had been suggested by Dominic Cummings that the cabinet process had been more “politically excitable”, at which point Boris Johnson interjected to suggest the word “performative”.

Mr Keith said: “Thank you. Performative. How there were worries about leaks, where it was more a matter of political theatre.”

Mr Johnson went on to say: “I think that’s certainly a fair criticism of some cabinet meetings but as time went on, I genuinely think that cabinet proved to be more and more valuable, and you genuinely started to have different points of view properly represented around the table, and different departmental interests, particularly HMT (the Treasury), properly represented.

“And it became a much more… I started to see the wisdom in the system and I think it worked.”

Johnson insists strategy was to save lives ‘at all ages’ and ‘that is what we did'

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:01 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson told the Covid inquiry his strategy was to save lives “at all ages” and “that is what we did”.

He was shown extracts from former Government chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries which described Mr Johnson saying the Government should “let it rip” (the virus) through the population.

Mr Johnson said “this was a phrase that was common parlance at the time and remains so”, adding: “I don’t wish to be repetitive but this is exactly what you’d expect me to be talking about at this stage.”

In one diary extract, from May 2021, Sir Patrick wrote: “PM meeting – Cx (then-chancellor Rishi Sunak) suddenly pipes up on incentives already in place. Argues that we should let it rip a bit.”

Hugo Keith KC asked Mr Johnson: “Was your position, Mr Johnson, that in light of your views secretly held about people dying having reached their time anyway, that you were obliged to reject the advice of your advisers that there’d be a circuit breaker, that there’d be no national lockdown until the last possible moment and that you will try a tier system?”

Mr Johnson said: “No, the implication that you’re you’re trying to draw from those conversations is completely wrong.

“My position was that we had to save human life at all ages.”

Watch: Johnson squirms as he’s shown all times he said ‘let it rip’ during grilling

Thursday 7 December 2023 12:00 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson is shown all the times he said “let it rip” (the virus) during his second-day grilling at Britain’s Covid inquiry on Thursday (7 December).

Hugo Keith KC showed the former prime minister extracts from former Government chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries which described Mr Johnson saying the Government should “let it rip” through the population.

Mr Johnson said “This was a phrase that was common parlance at the time and remains so”, adding: “I don’t wish to be repetitive but this is exactly what you’d expect me to be talking about at this stage.”

Lucy Leeson reports:

Boris Johnson shown all the times he said ‘let it rip’ during Covid inquiry grilling

I don’t know why we called it the Kent variant… it wasn’t even from Kent - Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:58 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has said he does not know why the Kent variant was called the Kent variant, telling the Covid inquiry that it “did not even originate in Kent”.

Boris Johnson grilled over ‘rollercoaster’ approach to lockdown

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:58 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has denied taking Britain a “rollercoaster” approach to lockdowns after a grilling by inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC.

The former prime minister was asked whether he delayed implementing measures until the last minute, leading to the “rollercoaster approach”.

But Mr Johnson said: “We did not delay and then do something at the last minute.”

“When you talk about a rollercoaster, I would say that rollercoaster was driven very largely by nature,” Mr Johnson said.

He added: “The extent to which we were able to control the rollercoaster is something that I think we all need to focus on.”

All the times Mr Johnson said 'let it rip' and other abhorrent comments

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:55 , Tara Cobham

The key Covid revelations from Boris Johnson today

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:49 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson fell silent for three minutes at the Covid inquiry on Thursday morning as he was confronted by all the times he talked about “letting it rip” through the population.

The former prime minister has been in largely good spirits responding to questioning from Hugo Keith KC, the probe’s lead counsel.

But Mr Johnson looked distinctly uneasy as he was shown five damning diary extracts by Sir Patrick Vallance.

Archie Mitchell reports:

From Eat Out to Help Out to ‘let it rip’: The key Covid revelations today

Johnson admits failures of tiering system but insists it was ‘worth a try'

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:45 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has admitted failures of the tiering system in halting the spread of Covid infections but insisted it was “worth a try”.

Speaking at the UK Covid inquiry on Thursday, he said: “What we wanted out of the tiering system, and we’ve got to be clear here that we didn’t achieve it, was to crush the virus where it was most prevalent.”

Hugo Keith KC put to the former prime minister: “In the event the tiers, as we know, didn’t work.”

Mr Johnson replied, “They didn’t. And I’m very sad about that,” but insisted they were “worth a try”.

He said the system proved to become “very invidious” as different areas would find themselves in differing levels of lockdown.

He added: “It was clearly proving divisive and difficult to implement.”

But, questioned over a claim by Matt Hancock that he "knew" the tiers system would not work, Mr Johnson said he did not remember the health secretary telling him that.

Watch: Johnson shown all times he said ‘let Covid rip’ in uncomfortable inquiry moment

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:39 , Tara Cobham

Were private meetings with Rishi Sunak appropriate?

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:26 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson had private meetings with Rishi Sunak to discuss easing lockdowns measures, the Covid inquiry has heard.

Despite the meetings being about health measures, the health secretary was not present nor were any scientists involved.

An internal Treasury email said the meeting “shows the strength of the chancellor [Mr Sunak]’s voice in these discussions”.

Mr Johnson said the meeting would “presumably” have been about the economic implications of plans to change Covid restrictions.

Cabinet was ‘performative’, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:16 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said cabinet meetings were “performative” and some were ill-equipped to properly debate scientific advice.

‘Let it rip was a phrase in common parlance,’ says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 11:16 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said the phrase “let it rip” was in “common parlance” during the pandemic and that “you would expect me to be talking about that”. “Plenty of people used it in conversation with me,” he added.

He was then shown all the times he was recorded as having used the phrase, before attempting to defend himself.

“It does not do justice to what we did;... to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country or that I believed it was acceptable to ‘let it rip’.”

“What I was asking, and I had to do this… I had to speak for everybody who wasn’t in the meetings and wanted these points put to the scientists.”

A rattled Mr Johnson added: “I needed to have the counterarguments.”

Johnson was told by Swedish epidemiology chief to take tougher measures

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:59 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson was told by Sweden’s head epidemiologist Anders Tegnell to adopt tougher measures before the UK’s second lockdown, the inquiry has heard.

The former PM has been grilled by Hugo Keith KC over a September 2020 meeting in which he had expected Mr Tegnell to argue for a more relaxed approach to restrictions.

“He turned out to surprise the meeting to argue in fact for a stronger intervention,” Mr Keith said. He added: “[Mr Tegnell] made it absolutely plain to you that contrary to much of the press reporting about the Swedish approach a stronger intervention was merited.”

Mr Johnson replied: “I could not swear to that.” But he said there was “a surprising degree of unanimity” among those present.

Boris Johnson accused of avoiding advice from Whitty and Vallance

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:53 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson is being questioned over whether he called a meeting of scientists deliberately to undermine unwanted advice from Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance.

The former prime minister called a meeting on September 20, 2020, with a wider group of scientists including Sweden’s state epidemiologist.

Hugo Keith KC asked Mr Johnson: “Is that why you called the meeting… because you wanted to have a greater diversity of scientific advice… beyond the advice you were receiving but were not inclined to accept from your own chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser?”

Mr Johnson said he wanted to understand “the great Swedish success… how they managed to do it without lockdowns”.

Johnson suggests approach ‘more reliant on common sense and less on regulation' in future

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:48 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson acknowledged the complexities of rules during the pandemic, and suggested an approach more reliant on common sense and less on regulation in future.

He said he had “a great deal of sympathy for the police, those who are charged with enforcing it, because it changed very often”.

He added: “I think there were 60 separate changes, and the complexities for the public to understand were very grey”.

Asked how it might be done differently in future, the former prime minister said it would be a matter for the inquiry, but suggested reflection is needed.

He said: “I think that there needs to be a great deal of reflection about simplifying the whole approach, and seeing what we can do to rely more on common sense and less on regulation and legislation.

“But there may be limits to that. I’m not suggesting there is an easy answer, because the reason fundamentally in the UK, and I say this to all the libertarians, why you need regulation is because ultimately people want to see everybody being obliged to obey the same set of rules and they want their neighbours to do what they are doing.”

I was not against a second national lockdown, says Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:45 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said he was not against a second national lockdown, but that he thought a regional approach was “a sensible way to go”.

The former PM was asked about the decision not to impose a circuit-breaker lockdown in autumn 2020, as cases of the virus were rising.

Told in September by Dominic Cummings that the government should announce a two-week circuit-breaker, Mr Johnson said: “What is the difference between a circuit-breaker and a national lockdown and what if it doesn’t work?”

Mr Johnson was told by former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and health secretary Matt Hancock to act “fast” and implement measures.

He insisted that he did “immediately” implement some restrictions, including advice on working from home and the rule of six.

Rishi Sunak faces grilling at Covid inquiry next week

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:45 , Tara Cobham

Embattled Tory leader Rishi Sunak will be grilled about his actions during the Covid pandemic when he appears before the public inquiry on Monday.

The PM is fighting to save his premiership after resignation of immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as he failed to appease the Tory right with his Rwanda legislation.

Adding to Mr Sunak’s woes, it emerged that he will be hauled up in front of the Covid inquiry within days to answer questions about his time as chancellor.

Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent reports:

Rishi Sunak faces grilling at Covid inquiry next week

Whitty and Vallance ‘must have known’ about Eat Out to Help Out, argues Johnson

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:44 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson told the Covid inquiry his statement says “Chris (Whitty) and Patrick (Vallance) must have known, or did know, about Eat Out to Help Out”.

However, both leading scientists, plus others, have told the inquiry they were not told about the scheme before it was made public.

Mr Johnson said: “I said that because it wasn’t a very secret thing. It was, I thought, a pretty well-publicised scheme, and I’m fairly confident that it was discussed several times in meetings in which I believe they must have been present.”

He says he understands now that the pair do not feel they were properly consulted, but added: “I don’t quite understand how that could have happened”.

He added: “I remember being surprised, later, I think it was in September, when Chris says ‘this is eat out to help the virus’.

“And I thought, ‘well, that’s funny’, because I didn’t remember any previous controversy about it.”

Mr Johnson agreed there were bilateral meetings in June and July with the Treasury and the Chancellor during which the scheme was debated.

Hugo Keith KC asked him: “There were no scientists present at any of those meetings were there?”

Mr Johnson replied: “No, but it would have been normal for a project like that, a scheme like that, to have gone through the Covid-19 Taskforce and it seemed to me odd that the scientists hadn’t been made aware of it.”

He later said: “I don’t understand how something as well publicised as that could have been smuggled past the the scientific advice, I don’t see how that could have happened.”

‘Who made these stupid rules?’: Vallance notes Johnson’s frustrations

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:41 , Tara Cobham

Covid inquiry counsel Hugo Keith referred to a diary entry in Sir Patrick Vallance’s evening notes “where you (Boris Johnson) exclaim in frustration, but plainly perhaps not to be taken too seriously, ‘Who made these stupid rules?’”

Boris Johnson replied: “Yeah.”

Mr Keith asked about any debate or discussion around the workability of regulations and any confusion which arose around them.

Mr Johnson said: “We did try to make the rules as simple as we could but the problem was the effort to get people to self-isolate, to avoid contact – because of the complexities of human life – became extremely complicated.”

‘We’ve seen second wave coming for miles,’ Boris Johnson in August 2020

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:37 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson told advisers he had “seen the wave coming for miles” so “we should be ready” in August 2020.

The former prime minister was then grilled about whether he considered a “segmentation” policy, which would have shielded the elderly and vulnerable while allowing others to live without restrictions.

In a debate with Professor Chris Whitty about segmentation, Mr Johnson asked if there was “merit in offering over-65s a choice”.

“If you are over 65 your risk of dying from Covid is probably as big as your risk of falling down stairs. And we don’t stop older people from using stairs,” Mr Johnson said.

Professor Whitty said the idea was “reasonable at an individual level”, but “most of those who die in that situation will not have chosen to take the risk”.

Boris Johnson grilled over ‘bigger fines… tougher enforcement’ comments

Thursday 7 December 2023 10:34 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has been grilled over whether he wanted bigger fines or more financial support for people self-isolating in order to boost compliance with lockdown rules.

The former PM was shown notes by the prime minister saying: “OVERRIDING MESSAGE should be about tougher enforcement and BIGGER FINES.”

Mr Johnson said he knew Britain would face a second wave of the virus and wanted to make sure people were “obeying the existing strictures”.