Covid inquiry - live: Boris Johnson to be grilled over lockdown delay

Boris Johnson will appear before the Covid inquiry for the first time on Wednesday to be grilled on the government’s response to the pandemic.

In a much-anticipated evidence session, the former prime minister will be questioned about the UK’s late lockdown and respond to criticisms from some of his closest aides about his leadership style.

Lee Cain, his No 10 director of communications,  said the pandemic was the “wrong crisis” for Mr Johnson’s “skill set”, describing dither and delay - a criticism made by multiple other witnesses to the inquiry.

Last week allies of Mr Johnson said that he would issue and “unreserved apology” and admit his government was “initially far too complacent” about the threats posed by the virus.

According to The Times, he will also give his backing to back Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, who has also been repeatedly criticised by other witnesses.

Mr Hancock appeared in front of the inquiry last week, and was questioned over his handling of the Covid crisis.

Key Points

• Former PM to be grilled on UK’s late lockdown

• Allies say Johnson will apologise and back Hancock

• Boris Johnson to give evidence

Discharging Covid patients into care homes ‘troubled me a lot’, says Johnson

12:01 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said one of the main things that troubled him during the pandemic was the policy of discharging people from hospitals into care homes without testing, which has been blamed for the high number of deaths in social care settings.

“The one thing that has troubled me a lot, I'm sure we'll come on to, it is the march discharge policy,” Mr Johnson said.

Johnson rejects suggestion of a ‘failed mindset’ in Government

11:58 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has rejected the suggestion there was a “failed mindset” in Government, but said it was a “natural human response” to past health crises.

The former prime minister said a coronavirus pandemic was “outside our living experience” and instead the system remembered Sars, Mers and swine flu.

Asked if there was a “failed mindset” by Hugo Keith KC, he said: “I think it was a human, natural response of people based on what they themselves seen and observed in their lifetimes.”

Johnson: ‘We did not comprehend implications of Covid’

11:52 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said ministers did not “comprehend” the implications of Covid spreading from China to the UK.

The former prime minister said his government had to “put our hands up” and say that they “did not attach enough credence” to forecasts showing that Covid could have killed hundreds of thousands of people.

“If we had collectively stopped to think about the mathematical implications of some of the forecasts that were being made, and we believed them, we might have operated differently,” Mr Johnson said.

Watch: Johnson says Margaret Thatcher’s WhatsApps would have been ‘fruity’

11:51 , Tara Cobham

Boris defends tone of WhatsApps as ‘reflection of agony’ of country

11:51 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has defended the way his No 10 operation worked and said the tone of the private WhatsApps was a “reflection of the agony” the country was going through.

“I think at the time I decided it was best to have an atmosphere of challenge with some strong characters giving me advice, and I valued that advice,” he said.

Asked by Hugo Keith KC if he lost confidence in both cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill and senior aide Dominic Cummings during 2020 and decided to “dispose of them both”, Mr Johnson said: “They both stepped aside from government.

“It was a very difficult, very challenging period. People were getting – as you can see from the WhatsApps – they were getting very frazzled because they were frustrated.

“Covid kept coming at us in wave after wave and it was very, very hard to fight it.

“People were doing their level best. When people are critical of the guy at the top or they are critical of each other, that’s a reflection of the difficulty of the circumstances.”

It was “a reflection of the agony that the country was going through and that the government was going through”.

Boris Johnson defends being unaware of Covid: ‘It didn’t come up at PMQs’

11:48 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has defended being slow to react to the pandemic, saying it had not been raised at prime minister’s questions (PMQs).

The former prime minister told the Covid inquiry: “In that period, the end of January, beginning of February… it's not much in the political world. I wasn't asked about it, for instance, at all of PMQs.”

Johnson denies remembering Hancock ‘raised concerns’

11:46 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said he does not remember all the conversations in which Matt Hancock claims he tried to raise his concerns about coronavirus with him.

The former prime minister was asked about assertions made by his then-health secretary that he had tried to warn him about Covid-19 four times throughout January 2020.

“I certainly recall the conversation on the 7th of January and the context. I remember thinking about it and saying ‘well you know, keep an eye on it…’

“I don’t, to be frank, remember all those conversations but it’s true that we would have spoken on many occasions because we generally spoke quite a lot.”

Johnson responds to Vallance’s suggestion of ‘complete lack of leadership'

11:43 , Tara Cobham

Responding to then-chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance’s suggestion there was inconsistency and a “complete lack of leadership” in October 2020, Boris Johnson said it was a sign of the difficulties that the government was grappling with.

Mr Johnson said criticism was “wholly to be expected” as the country was “going through a resurgence of the virus”.

“I’ve got to face the reality as prime minister that the virus seems to be refusing to be suppressed by the measures we’ve used so far, we’re going to need different measures.

“We’ve come out of lockdown, we’re going into the tiering system. Of course we’re changing, but so did the collective understanding of the science.”

With no vaccine available and pressure for another lockdown, Mr Johnson said he was facing an “appalling problem”.

“My anxiety was that we were going to have to do the same thing over and over again.”

He said Sir Patrick’s notebooks and the private messages being exchanged by officials reflect “the deep anxiety of a group of people doing their level best who cannot see any easy solution and are naturally self-critical and critical of others”.

Watch: Pandemic meetings were ‘too male dominated’, admits Johnson

11:41 , Tara Cobham

‘We underestimated scale and the pace of challenge,’ says Johnson

11:38 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said he, Whitehall advisers and the scientific community “underestimated the scale and the pace of the challenge” presented by Covid.

“From late February through to the sequence of [measures], of lockdowns, you can see we were all collectively underestimating how fast it had already spread in the UK,” Mr Johnson told the Covid inquiry.

Watch: Inquiry not interested in Cummings’ salaciousness, Keith tells Johnson

11:36 , Tara Cobham

Covid was ‘cloud on horizon’ at end of February 2020, says Johnson

11:35 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson said that at the end of February Covid was like a “cloud on the horizon, no bigger than a man's hand”.

The former prime minister told the pandemic probe that he did not know “whether it was

going to turn into a typhoon or not”.

“I was unsure, and it became clear much later,” he added.

Johnson dismisses exasperated messages between senior officials Sedwill and Case

11:34 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson dismissed the exasperated messages exchanged between senior officials Mark Sedwill and Simon Case.

In July 2020 Simon Case, the then-head official in Downing Street and now the Cabinet Secretary, said “I’ve never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country”, in a message to Sir Mark, who was cabinet secretary at the time.

But Mr Johnson said Whitehall mandarins would have said similar “pretty fruity” things about the Thatcher administration if their “unexpurgated” messages had been available in the same way as WhatsApp exchanges now.

He said WhatsApp messages tended to be “ephemeral, it tends to the pejorative and the hyperbolical”.

“I think that the worst vice, in my view, would have been to have had an operation where everybody was so deferential and so reluctant to make waves that they never expressed their opinion, they never challenged and they never doubted.

“It was much more important to have a group of people who are willing to doubt themselves and to doubt each other. And I think that that was creatively useful rather than the reverse.”

Johnson defends keeping Hancock as health secretary

11:31 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson defended keeping former health secretary Matt Hancock in his post, despite calls from his aide Dominic Cummings that he should have been sacked.

Mr Johnson said: “If you’re prime minister, you are constantly being lobbied by somebody to sack somebody else. It’s just what, I’m afraid, happens and it’s part of life.”

He acknowledged Mr Cummings had a “low opinion” of Mr Hancock but “I thought he was wrong”.

“I stuck by the health secretary. I thought the health secretary worked very hard.”

He said Mr Hancock “may have had defects” but “I thought that he was doing his best in very difficult circumstances and I thought he was a good communicator”.

Watch: Boris Johnson praises Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance

11:29 , Tara Cobham

Sewill to Johnson: ‘People refused to work because of your toxic reputation’

11:29 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson was told by Britain’s top civil servant that people refused to work with him because of his “toxic reputation”.

The former prime minister has faced a grilling over a series of WhatsApp messages between top advisers questioning his competence and the competence of his health secretary Matt Hancock.

“Would you accept that it is extraordinary that the government's chief scientific adviser, its chief adviser, its cabinet secretaries, its deputy permanent secretary, should all be commenting in these terms about competence and about performance?” Hugo Keith KC asked.

“I think it is wholly to be expected,” Mr Johnson said.

Mr Johnson then denied he was sent the criticisms directly, before Mr Keith read out a message he received from Lord Sedwill on July 2, 2020, which said: “Lots of top drawer people have refused to come because of the toxic reputation of your operation.”

Dominic Cummings and Mark Sedwill ‘stepped aside’, Boris Johnson

11:17 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson has refused to accept that he forced Dominic Cummings and Mark Sedwill out of government, instead saying that they chose to “step aside”.

The former prime minister accused Mr Cummings, his ex-top adviser, of engaging in an “orgy of narcissism” in No10, before he is believed to have forced Mr Cummings out.

Mr Keith also questioned Mr Johnson about whether he had forced out Lord Sedwill, then Britain’s top civil servant. His departure followed a slew of negative briefings to newspapers.

“They stepped aside from government, but it was a very difficult, very challenging period… as you can see, from the WhatsApps,” Mr Johnson said.

Margaret Thatcher’s WhatsApps would have been ‘fruity’, Boris Johnson

11:08 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said WhatsApps between members of Margaret Thatcher’s government would have been “pretty fruity”, in a defence of foul-mouthed messages sent between members of his top team during the pandemic.

Bereaved daughter: ‘Boris Johnson avoiding victims is typical’

11:07 , Tara Cobham

A daughter whose parents died in December 2020 has said Boris Johnson avoiding the families of pandemic victims is “typical”.

Sharon Cook, 58, whose mother died in hospital and father died in a care home a week later, said “I did not expect much more, really”.

More than 50 people with the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group had shown up outside the inquiry to have their voices heard by the former PM.

But Mr Johnson arrived three hours early, seemingly in a bid to dodge protesters.

Ms Cook told The Independent: “It’s typical. He has not stood up like a man to acknowledge what’s gone wrong.

“He has only ever shown contempt for the people that he has really significantly damaged. So I did not expect much more.”

Matt Hancock had ‘defects’, says Johnson

11:04 , Tara Cobham

Matt Hancock had “defects” but was “doing his best in very difficult circumstances”, Boris Johnson has told the Covid inquiry.

Mounting a defence of his beleaguered former health secretary, Mr Johnson said it is “just the nature” of government that “everybody is constantly militating against some other individual for some reason”.

He was shown a series of WhatsApp messages showing his top advisers believed Mr Hancock should be sacked over his handling of the pandemic.

“If you're Prime Minister, you're constantly being lobbied by somebody to sack somebody else… it's just what I'm afraid happens and it's part of life,” Mr Johnson said.

Boris Johnson: Pandemic meetings were ‘too male dominated’

10:59 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said committee meetings during the pandemic were “too male-dominated”.

The former prime minister told the Covid inquiry he tried to rectify the problem, including by recruiting a former colleague from City Hall.

“I think sometimes during the pandemic, committee meetings were too male-dominated,” Mr Johnson said.

Johnson rejects suggestions he and Cummings were ‘decision-makers'

10:59 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson rejected suggestions that his government was designed to place Dominic Cummings, along with himself, as “decision-makers” while ministers were “largely irrelevant” to policy or execution.

“(Sajid) Javid has said in his witness statement that the Cabinet was designed, in his view, to place Dominic Cummings and the prime minister as the decision-makers, to centralise power in Number 10 and, in his own witness statement, Mr Cummings has said that the cabinet was largely irrelevant to policy or execution on account of the leaks, your inability to chair it and because it was seen by No 10 as not being a serious place for serious discussion,” lead counsel Hugo Keith KC said.

“I don’t think that’s true. I think there were some really excellent cabinet discussions about the trade-offs,” Mr Johnson replied.

But he claimed that the cabinet as a whole was “more reluctant” to impose non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) than he was.

“That wasn’t true for every member of the cabinet but that would be a general comment,” he added.

‘Totally f***ing hopeless’, Boris Johnson about Matt Hancock on March 27

10:56 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson described Matt Hancock’s failures on testing as “totally f***ing hopeless”, the Covid inquiry has heard.

He is being grilled by inquiry chairman Hugo Keith KC about claims of a toxic culture which festered in Downing Street under his premiership.

The inquiry has previously heard that Mr Johnson and his top adviser Dominic Cummings contributed to such a toxic environment that civil servants did not want to work in the heart of government.

Inquiry is not interested in Cummings’ salacious style and language, Keith tells Johnson

10:55 , Tara Cobham

Hugo Keith KC has told Boris Johnson that the Covid inquiry has no interest in the “salaciousness or the nature of Dominic Cummings’ linguistic style” on WhatsApp.

Mr Johnson said he had apologised to one person over abhorrent messages shown so far to the inquiry.

And the former prime minister said messages of the kind the inquiry has seen would not have been shown to previous inquiries because the technology did not exist.

And he pointed to previous administrations such as Sir Tony Blair’s where “the characters whose views about each other might not be fit to print” but where they “got an awful lot done”.

‘The dead can’t hear your apologies’, says four ejected

10:53 , Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent

Four people who were removed from Boris Johnson’s Covid inquiry hearing said they “didn’t want his apology”. They said they stood up as he began apologising to hold up signs that read: “The dead can’t hear your apologies.”

Speaking outside, Kathryn Butcher, 59, who lost her sister-in-law, said: “We didn’t want his apology. When he tried to apologise we stood up. We didn’t block anybody. We were told to sit down. We didn’t sit down straight away. One of us stayed standing, so the rest of us came out in solidarity.”

Watch: Johnson admits he ‘unquestionably’ made mistakes during pandemic

10:52 , Tara Cobham

Johnson defends lockdowns but admits ‘damage done'

10:50 , Tara Cobham

In his witness statement to the inquiry, Boris Johnson defended the lockdowns as “very important” but acknowledged “there is no denying the damage that was done”.

He said that “as the pandemic recedes in public memory” there had been “an increasing tendency to criticise” the lockdowns.

“People point, quite rightly, to the loss of education, the economic damage, the missed cancer and cardiac appointments, and all the other costs.

“There is no denying the damage that was done. That is why that decision was so painful and so difficult.”

But the former prime minister said the first lockdown came when there was a new disease with no treatment and which was not fully understood, so “we had to act”.

“I believed strongly at the time, and continue to believe, that the lockdowns and other NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions) were very important,” he said.

The first lockdown in March 2020 was “absolutely essential” in bringing down the R number – the rate at which people were being infected.

Johnson indicates rolling out vaccines was only easy decision

10:48 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson indicated that the only easy decision during the pandemic was to roll out the vaccines.

He told the inquiry: “When it came to the balance of the need to protect the public and protect the NHS and the damage done by lockdowns, it was incredibly difficult.”

‘I only read Sage minutes once or twice,’ Boris Johnson admits

10:48 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has admitted he only read Sage minutes “once or twice” during the pandemic, instead relying on Sir Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance to sum them up.

“I think I did from time to time look at the consensus minutes,” the former prime minister said.

Inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC noted that the consensus minutes of Sage meetings were sometimes only nine or 10 pages, and that there were hundreds of the documents.

Mr Johnson said: “I think I did, once or twice.”

Mr Johnson said in hindsight that he wished he had listened to ongoing conversations in Sage itself.

Cabinet was more reluctant to impose Covid measures than I was, Johnson

10:41 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson said his cabinet was more reluctant “on the whole” to impose Covid interventions than him.

The former prime minister told the Covid inquiry that his ministers did have the opportunity to debate measures such as lockdowns.

“There were some really excellent and candid discussions about the trade offs,” Mr Johnson said.

He added: “I think it would be fair to say that the cabinet was on the whole more reluctant to impose NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions) than I was.”

Watch: Johnson denies deleting Whatsapp messages ahead of Covid inquiry

10:40 , Tara Cobham

Johnson accepts personal responsibility for pandemic mistakes

10:39 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson was asked to what extent he accepts personal responsibility for the mistakes he admits were “unquestionably” made by his government during the pandemic.

“I take personal responsibility for all the decisions that we made,” he replied.

Among the decisions he takes responsibility for are the speed of the Government’s response to the pandemic in 2020, the lockdown decisions and their timeliness, the explosion of the virus in the residential care sector, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and the decision not to introduce a circuit-breaker later in 2020, he confirmed.

He said: “With hindsight, it may be easy to see things that we could have done differently or it may be possible to see things that we could have done differently.

“At the time, I felt and I know that everybody else felt that we were doing our best in very difficult circumstances to protect life and protect the NHS.”

‘We didn’t want to hear Johnson’s apology, say four removed from inquiry

10:36 , Tara Cobham

Four people who were removed from Boris Johnson's Covid-19 Inquiry hearing said they "didn't want his apology".

They said they stood up as he began apologising to hold up signs that read: "The Dead can't hear your apologies."

Speaking outside Dorland House in west London, Kathryn Butcher, 59, who lost her sister-in-law, told reporters afterwards: "We didn't want his apology.

"When he tried to apologise we stood up. We didn't block anybody. We were told to sit down.

"We didn't sit down straight away. One of us said stayed standing, so the rest of us came out in solidarity."

Watch: Boris Johnson apologises to victims during Covid inquiry

10:29 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson: ‘I unquestionably made mistakes… so many people lost lives inevitably’

10:28 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson has said he “unquestionably” made mistakes during the pandemic, but insists he tried his “level best”.

“I think we were doing our best given what we knew, given the information I had available to me at the time, I think we did our level best,” the former PM told the Covid inquiry.

Pressed by inquiry counsel Hugo Keith KC what mistakes specifically he was talking about, Mr Johnson said: “So many people suffered, so many people inevitably lost their lives in the course of trying to handle a… pandemic in which we had to balance appalling harms.”

Lib Dems: Johnson’s hollow apology means nothing

10:27 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Responding to Boris Johnson's apology at the Covid Inquiry, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Health & Social Care spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “This apology will ring hollow for the thousands of families who grieved while Boris Johnson partied then lied about it.

"If he wants his apology to be taken seriously, he should at least start by paying back the thousands of pounds of taxpayer-funded legal fees he racked up during the partygate inquiry."

Boris Johnson’s 5,000 missing WhatsApps between January 2020 to June 2020

10:23 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson lost 5,000 WhatsApp messages between January 2020 and June 2020, the Covid inquiry has heard.

The former prime minister had to replace his phone during the pandemic after his phone number was found left online.

Mr Johnson said “for the avoidance of doubt” that “I have not removed any WhatsApps from my phone”.

“I’ve given you everything that you need,” he said.

Asked whether he was behind a factory reset which was carried out on the phone, a puzzled Mr Johnson said: “A factory reset?”

The ex-PM said: "I can't give you the technical information. But that's the best I'm able to do."

Leaks undermine process, complains Covid inquiry chairwoman

10:18 , Tara Cobham

Covid inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett complained about the briefings ahead of Boris Johnson’s appearance, saying that leaks of the witness statement undermined the process.

She said: “I’d like to express my concern about reports in the press over the last few days of the contents of Mr Johnson’s witness statement to the inquiry and what his evidence will be.

“Until a witness is called and appears at a hearing, or the inquiry publishes the witness’s statement, it’s meant to be confidential between the witness, the inquiry and the core participants.

“And I wish to remind all those involved in the inquiry process that they must maintain this confidentiality so as to allow the sharing of materials prior to hearings between those most involved in the inquiry process.

“Failing to respect confidentiality undermines the inquiry’s ability to do its job fairly, effectively and independently.”

Watch: Covid Inquiry chairwoman kicks four people out of Johnson grilling

10:17 , Tara Cobham

Watch: Johnson presided over ‘orgy of narcissism’, bereaved families claim

10:15 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson apology disrupted by protesters

10:12 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson’s apology to the nation has been interrupted by four people who staged a protest in the hearing room.

The protesters were ejected from the Covid-19 inquiry as the former prime minister was saying he was sorry “for the loss, pain and suffering”.

He said: “I am deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and suffering of those victims and their families and grateful that I am to the hundreds of 1000s of healthcare workers and many other public servants, people in all walks of life who help to protect our country, throat critical pandemic.”

“I do hope that this inquiry will help to get the answers to the very difficult questions that those victims and those families are rightly asking,” Mr Johnson added.

Boris Johnson grilled over lockdowns after dodging protests

10:06 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson is being grilled over the government’s response to the pandemic at the UK Covid Inquiry after he arrived three hours early to dodge protesters waiting outside.

The former prime minister has appeared at 10am today to face the first of two days of questioning over his handling of coronavirus.

The highly anticipated appearance by Mr Johnson is expected to see him admit that his government made mistakes in its response to the virus, but argue that its decisions ultimately saved lives.

Mr Johnson will also, according to reports, insist that he followed the advice of scientists and did not lock down the country more quickly because herd immunity was initially favoured.

Boris ‘open’ to admitting lockdown should have happened earlier, says ex-adviser

09:55 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson is “open” to admitting lockdown should have happened earlier, an ex-adviser has said.

Guto Harri told Sky News the science advice was "torn" in the early days of the pandemic.

Asked whether lockdown should have happened earlier, Mr Harri admitted that maybe this is right, and "Boris is open on that".

‘Grotesque distortion of truth’ to claim Johnson got big decisions right

09:53 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson’s expected claim at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that he got the big decisions right during the pandemic would be a “grotesque distortion of the truth”, a lawyer for bereaved families has said.

Aamer Anwar, lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, told a press conference ahead of the former prime minister’s evidence in west London: “Boris Johnson is expected to issue an apology this morning.

“Yet he will claim he saved thousands of lives.

“For many of the bereaved that will be a grotesque distortion of the truth.

“In Boris Johnson’s words, instead of solving a national crisis, his government presided over a total disgusting orgy of narcissism.

“He did let the bodies pile up and the elderly were treated as toxic waste.

“As a result, over a quarter of a million people died from Covid. They cannot speak for themselves but their families, the bereaved and all those impacted by Covid deserve the truth today.”

Watch live: Johnson gives evidence to Covid Inquiry as he faces two-day grilling

09:50 , Tara Cobham

Watch live as Boris Johnson gives evidence to Britain’s Covid inquiry on Wednesday (6 December) as the former prime minister faces a grilling over the government’s response to the pandemic.

Mr Johnson, who arrived three hours early to the inquiry, will be questioned about the UK’s late lockdown and respond to criticisms from some of his closest aides about his leadership style.

It comes after the former prime minister denied deleting WhatsApp messages after it emerged he had not been able to provide the inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020.

Lucy Leeson reports:

Watch live: Boris Johnson gives evidence to Covid inquiry as ex-PM faces grilling

Boris Johnson to face start of two-day grilling at Covid inquiry

09:45 , Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson will face the first of two days of questioning over his handling of the pandemic when he appears before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from 10am today.

It comes after the former prime minister denied deleting WhatsApp messages after it emerged he had not been able to provide the inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020.

The highly anticipated appearance by Mr Johnson is expected to see him admit that his government made mistakes in its response to the virus, but argue that its decisions ultimately saved lives.

Mr Johnson will also, according to reports, insist that he followed the advice of scientists and did not lock down the country more quickly because herd immunity was initially favoured.

His style of government at the height of the crisis has been criticised by former colleagues, while the atmosphere inside Downing Street has been described as “toxic”.

In pictures: People protest as Johnson set to give evidence at UK Covid Inquiry

09:36 , Tara Cobham

Boris arrives under the cover of darkness

09:26 , Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson snuck into the Covid Inquiry under the cover of early-morning darkness – managing to avoid the bereaved families by arriving about three hours before he is due to give evidence.

The public inquiry’s security has been stepped up for Mr Johnson’s appearance – with dozens of family members from all over Britain holding a defiant vigil outside.

Policing minister Chris Philp joked, “It’s the first time Boris has ever been early for anything”.

‘“It’s the first time Boris has ever been early for anything’ - Chris Philp

08:58 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Policing minister Chris Philp joked “it’s the first time Boris has ever been early for anything” after the the former prime minister arrived at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry about three hours before he is due to give evidence.

Mr Philp told Sky News the inquiry should be about “dispassionately and forensically understanding what lessons can be learnt” but that he was “sure there are things we could have done better”.

In pictures: Protesters wait outside the UK Covid-19 Inquiry

08:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Protesters wait outside the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at Dorland House in London, where Boris Johnson is due to give evidence today.

Policing minister defends Boris Johnson: ‘We were in unchartered territory'

08:36 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Policing minister Chris Philp defended Boris Johnson’s record during the pandemic ahead of the former prime minister’s appearance before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday.

Mr Philp told Sky News: “We were in uncharted territory and he was trying, as far as I can see, to make the right decisions in a very difficult, fast-moving situation.”

But he added: “There’s no doubt, of course, looking back with hindsight you can look at things and say ‘well, that could have been done better’.”

Covid inquiry: What time is Boris Johnson giving evidence and how to watch

08:28 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Boris Johnson arrived at parliament at 7am this morning three hours before he is set to be grilled on the government’s response to the pandemic.

In a much-anticipated evidence session, the former prime minister will be questioned about the UK’s late lockdown and respond to criticism from some of his closest aides about his leadership style.

It comes after Lee Cain, his No 10 director of communications, said the pandemic was the “wrong crisis” for Mr Johnson’s “skill set”, describing dither and delay - a criticism made by multiple other witnesses to the

Covid inquiry: What time is Boris Johnson giving evidence and how to watch

UK Covid-19 Inquiry: 10 questions for Boris Johnson to answer

08:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

For a man whose ambition remains unquenched, this will be a deeply uncomfortable ordeal, writes Sean O’Grady:

Perhaps surprisingly, over his long and eventful life, Boris Johnson has never been on trial.

Certainly, he has extensive experience of the legal system: divorces; other difficult matters in his private life; the ever-present risk of libel; unconstitutional behaviour subject to judgment in the Supreme Court; the celebrated appearance at the privileges committee hearing; countless parking fines; even a fixed penalty notice for breaking his own lockdown rules.

But when he faces Hugo Keith KC and the other lawyers at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, it will be the first time he will have come under sustained questioning by a team of top barristers. Given his blustering performance before Harriet Harman and the Commons select committee, his tendency to go off-piste, his characteristic impatience and general “broad-brush” approach to executive decisions, it’s not certain that he’ll make a good impression as a witness.

Ten questions for Boris Johnson to answer at the Covid inquiry

08:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Boris Johnson arrives at the Covid Inquiry ahead of two-day grilling

What time is Boris Johnson in parliament today?

07:28 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Boris Johnson arrived at the inquiry venue at about 7am today, three hours before the hearing was due to begin.

With Mr Johnson likely to be grilled on the evidence of ex-colleagues, a report in The Times revealed that he has not been able to provide the inquiry with any communications spanning the early days of the pandemic and most of the first lockdown.

Boris Johnson fails to provide WhatsApp messages to Covid inquiry

07:19 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Boris Johnson has denied deleting WhatsApp messages after it emerged that the former prime minister has not been able to provide the Covid-19 inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020.

It comes after the Times newspaper reported that Mr Johnson, who will begin two days of questioning at the inquiry on Wednesday, has told Lady Hallet’s probe that technical experts have not been able to retrieve WhatsApp messages between January 31 and June 7 – a time period spanning the early days of the pandemic and most of the first lockdown.

Technical experts had been trying to recover messages from his old mobile phone in order to hand them over to the inquiry. Mr Johnson was originally told to stop using the device over security concerns after it emerged his number had been online for years.

Boris Johnson fails to provide WhatsApp messages to Covid inquiry

Ask John Rentoul anything as Boris Johnson gives bombshell evidence at the Covid inquiry

06:30 , Barney Davis

The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul will be taking your questions as the former prime minister is questioned on lockdowns, Partygate and more from 11am.

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Ask John Rentoul anything as Boris Johnson gives evidence at the Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson’s Partygate behaviour and ‘toxic No 10 culture’

05:30 , Barney Davis

The former PM is expected to apologise, but it remains to be seen what exactly he will apologise for. Mr Johnson was utterly defiant over Partygate during his grilling by the privileges committee hearing in the summer – defending leaving dos as “essential for work purposes”.

Mr Johnson, fined for attending his own birthday party in June 2020, also told MPs that: “People who say that we were partying in lockdown simply do not know what they are talking about.” He may be asked what impact Partygate and associated scandals – such as Mr Hancock’s kiss and the Barnard Castle saga – had on public compliance with the rules.

Helen McNamara, former deputy cabinet secretary, told the inquiry it would be “hard to pick one day” when Covid regulations were followed at No 10. She also said Mr Johnson oversaw a “toxic culture” – claiming there was “sexist treatment” of women at meetings.

Here’s Boris Johnson’s Covid charge sheet ahead of Covid inquiry testimony

Boris Johnson not a panto villain - former adviser says ahead of Covid inquiry

03:32 , Barney Davis

Guto Harri, who served as Boris Johnson’s director of communications in 2022, told Sky News Boris Johnson set up this inquiry and “will take it seriously”.

“He’s not going there to settle old scores or to name-call people who’ve been rude about him.

“He’s going there very seriously, having submitted a vast swathe of documents and a very detailed statement to explain the context in which unbelievably difficult and unprecedented judgement calls about lives and livelihoods and so much else had to be made.

“Does he think he got it 100% right? Of course not. But it would be a terrible mistake if his appearance at the inquiry was treated like some sort of Christmas pantomime and he was the pantomime villain.”

What has Boris been doing since leaving No 10?

02:30 , Alex Ross

From partygate to wallpapergate, Boris Johnson has never been far from controversy.

The former prime minister stepped down from Number 10 in July 2022, saying: “No one in politics is remotely indispensable”.

Here we look at his life since leaving the political spotlight:

What Boris Johnson has been up to since leaving Downing Street

Boris Johnson’s Covid charge sheet: from Partygate and flip-flopping to ‘letting it rip’

01:32 , Adam Forrest

Security is being beefed up at the Covid inquiry as the former PM finally faces grilling on decisions he made during pandemic later this morning.

Adam Forrest The Independent’s Political Correspondent reports:

Here’s Boris Johnson’s Covid charge sheet ahead of Covid inquiry testimony

Labour say Johnson’s WhatsApp messages unavailability ‘typical’ ahead of inquiry

Tuesday 5 December 2023 23:30 , Barney Davis

Labour frontbencher Nick Thomas-Symonds said it was “typical and will be deeply disappointing to families who have lost loved ones and deserve nothing less than full disclosure”.

Boris Johnson has denied deleting WhatsApp messages after it emerged that the former prime minister has not been able to provide the Covid-19 inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020.

It comes after the Times newspaper reported that Mr Johnson, who will begin two days of questioning at the inquiry on Wednesday, has told Lady Hallet’s probe that technical experts have not been able to retrieve WhatsApp messages between January 31 and June 7 – a time period spanning the early days of the pandemic and most of the first lockdown.

Technical experts had been trying to recover messages from his old mobile phone in order to hand them over to the inquiry. Mr Johnson was originally told to stop using the device over security concerns after it emerged his number had been online for years.

Boris Johnson: Where is he now and is he still MP?

Tuesday 5 December 2023 21:15 , Barney Davis

From partygate to wallpapergate, Boris Johnson has never been far from controversy.

Faiza Saqib reports:

What Boris Johnson has been up to since leaving Downing Street

Boris Johnson refutes claims he deleted vital WhatsApp messages ahead of inquiry

Tuesday 5 December 2023 20:55 , Barney Davis

A spokesman for the former prime minister said: “Boris Johnson has fully cooperated with the Inquiry’s disclosure process and has submitted hundreds of pages of material

“He has not deleted any messages.

“The Times report refers to a technical issue in recovery of material that is for the technical team to address.”

Mr Johnson was advised to stop using the phone and not access it again on security grounds while serving as prime minister in May 2021.

It had emerged his number had been freely available online for 15 years.

The device he used during crucial periods of the coronavirus pandemic was believed to contain messages relating to the ordering of the lockdowns in 2020.

Don’t be fooled by Boris the bamboozler – he will be ready for his star Covid inquiry turn Johnson will put up a beguiling performance, we can be sure, writes his biographer, Anthony Seldon.

Tuesday 5 December 2023 20:50 , Anthony Seldon

Johnson will put up a beguiling performance, we can be sure, writes his biographer, Anthony Seldon.

Expect some carefully calculated contrition, wit and self-deprecation – and a forensic response prepared by some of the best lawyers in the land.

Don’t be fooled by Boris the bamboozler | Sir Anthony Seldon

Boris Johnson fails to provide inquiry WhatsApps from first lockdown

Tuesday 5 December 2023 19:50 , Barney Davis

The Times is reporting that Boris Johnson has told the inquiry that experts were unable to retrieve any of his WhatApp messages from January 31 to June 7.

“The technical team has been unable to determine the cause of this,” he has told the inquiry denying he deleted them.

Johnson said that the content of the deleted messages which cover the run up to the first lockdown was likely to have been provided by others.

The Independent reported how a series of scathing WhatsApp messages sent between Boris Johnson’s top team have accused the former prime minister of making it “impossible” to tackle Covid, as he created chaos and changed direction “every day”.

The extraordinary messages sent between the likes of Dominic Cummings, Lee Cain and Simon Case reveal the strong disquiet among Mr Johnson’s advisers, with Mr Case, the cabinet secretary and top civil servant, at one point declaring: “I am at the end of my tether.”

The extraordinary WhatsApps that reveal the ‘chaos’ of Boris Johnson’s government

Did Boris Johnson take a holiday at crucial time in Pandemic?

Tuesday 5 December 2023 19:00 , Barney Davis

Boris Johnson could be grilled on his decision to take a 10-day holiday in February 2020, when Covid cases had been confirmed in the UK.

The inquiry has already heard that the former prime minister was not updated on the virus, missing two COBRA meetings in that period.

Dominic Cummings has said Boris was focussed on writing a book about Shakespeare - something Mr Johnson has denied - and finalising divorce and engagement to Carrie.

He is also likely to be asked if he really said he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than go back into a lockdown in autumn 2020. He has always denied this.

Boris Johnson to face two-day Covid grilling but will he admit mistakes?

Tuesday 5 December 2023 18:10 , Barney Davis

The former prime minister is expected to admit his government made some mistakes in its response to the deadly virus but will argue that his decisions ultimately saved lives.

Mr Johnson will also insist that he followed the advice of scientists and did not lock down the country more quickly because herd immunity was initially favoured, the Telegraph reported.

His style of government at the height of the crisis has been sharply criticised by former colleagues, not least his ex-chief adviser turned nemesis Dominic Cummings.

Mr Cummings claimed Mr Johnson asked scientists whether Covid could be destroyed by blowing a “special hair dryer” up noses.

He also alleged that Mr Johnson said he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than hit the economy with further restrictions – a claim supported by former senior aide Lord Udny-Lister, but which Mr Johnson previously denied.

Covid bereaved families say Johnson treated pandemic ‘as a joke’

Tuesday 5 December 2023 17:49 , Barney Davis

Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said the former Prime Minister will appear at the inquiry tomorrow with his claim that “he got the big calls right already entirely debunked”.

He said: “As the inquiry has heard, when news of the pandemic first struck, Johnson treated it all like it was a joke and as cases began to rise he delayed locking down, causing thousands of unnecessary deaths, such as my Dad’s.

“Even worse, when the second wave came around he repeated all of the same mistakes, leading to even more people dying than in the first wave.

“He’s even argued that the NHS ‘was never overwhelmed’. As the many thousands of bereaved families whose loved one were unable to reach a hospital or weren’t able to be treated once they were there will attest to, this is another obvious lie.

“We hope to see Johnson challenged on these clear falsehoods when he appears in front of the inquiry he desperately tried to avoid having tomorrow.”

Boris Johnson’s Covid charge sheet: from Partygate and flip-flopping to ‘letting it rip’

Tuesday 5 December 2023 17:26 , Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson is expected to tell the Covid inquiry he “unquestionably made mistakes” when he begins his gruelling two-day grilling on his handling of the crisis on Wednesday.

The public inquiry’s security has been stepped up for Mr Johnson’s appearance in west London, with dozens of bereaved family members from all over Britain expected to hold a defiant vigil as he turns up to give evidence.

Adam Forrest reports:

Here’s Boris Johnson’s Covid charge sheet ahead of Covid inquiry testimony

Will Boris prove to be ‘greased piglet’ again?

Tuesday 5 December 2023 17:01 , Barney Davis

Dr Sam Power, politics lecturer at Sussex University, said he expected Boris Johnson to “fare much better” in the inquiry hot seat than at the privileges committee.

“Given what we have seen so far falls much more along the lines of ‘he said, she said politics’, we should expect Johnson to live up to his long-standing moniker of the greased piglet of politics – and come out of this grilling at least largely unscathed.”

Sunak must come clean on Johnson’s legal fees

Tuesday 5 December 2023 16:45 , Adam Forrest

The Lib Dems have called on Rishi Sunak’s government to “come clean” over the cost of Boris Johnson’s legal fees for the Covid inquiry.

Figures published by the government earlier this year found that taxpayers were landed with a bill of over £265,000 to pay his legal fees during the privileges committee Partygate probe.

Lib Dems’ Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “Families listening to Boris Johnson will take everything he says with a bucket load of salt after the pain and suffering he caused.”

She added: “It is an insult to bereaved families that the government won’t tell us how much is being spent on Johnson’s legal costs for the Covid inquiry. Rishi Sunak needs to come clean with the British people now.”

Boris Johnson must ‘tell the truth’, say opposition

Tuesday 5 December 2023 16:28 , Barney Davis

Labour’s Nick Thomas-Symonds said Boris Johnson should provide “straight answers and integrity – both of which he failed to provide in office”.

The shadow Cabinet Office minister also called on Mr Johnson to be “fully transparent” about Rishi Sunak’s role in key decision making”.

Liberal Democrats’ Daisy Cooper said the bereaved families “deserve the truth about exactly what went on behind closed doors at No 10”.

She added: “Bereaved families will be looking for a sincere apology and some contrition from him for the part he played in the devastating mismanagement of the pandemic.”