By Ben Kerrigan-
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was jeered as he left the Covid-19 inquiry after two days of giving evidence.
Angry protesters outside the building in London where the covid inquiry was taking place shouted “murderer” and “shame on you” as he left Dorland House in west London to his awaiting car.
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The former prime minister had set out to defend his actions during the pandemic, insisting that there was nothing more he could have reasonably done to prevent lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street. Johnson’s testimony, however, has drawn sharp criticism.
Addressing the inquiry, Johnson expressed frustration at media coverage and TV adaptations of the events, describing them as “absurd” and far removed from the reality of what occurred.
He argued that the gatherings primarily involved hard-working civil servants trying to cope with challenging circumstances.
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“I speak on behalf of hundreds and hundreds of hard-working civil servants who thought that they were following the rules. Some of the media coverage, the dramatic representations, that we’re now having of this are absolutely absurd,” Johnson asserted, while apologizing for the first time about any failings during the heights of the pandemic.
However, Johnson’s claim that he could not have reasonably done more to prevent the parties was criticized by chair Baroness Hallet who told him the scandal “exacerbated” the suffering of bereaved families during the pandemic.
In response to questioning, he rejected the notion that he could have taken additional measures to stop events like wine and cheese parties from taking place in Downing Street during lockdown.
“I think that the trouble was, as I have said, that people were working extremely hard,” Johnson stated. When pressed on whether he could have done more, he emphatically answered, “Given what I knew at the time about what was going on, the answer to that is no.”
The former Prime Minister suggested that Covid guidance allowed for flexibility and that inadvertent breaches occurred due to staff working under intense pressure without a full understanding of the rules.
He described the challenging conditions in Downing Street, where constant meetings were held at all hours, making it difficult to adhere strictly to guidance.
Lead counsel Hugo Keith challenged Johnson’s narrative by presenting WhatsApp messages exchanged with Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, in December 2021.
In one message, Johnson acknowledged that officials, especially his head of communications, Lee Cain, should have considered their behavior at Downing Street. Johnson, however, emphasized that he deeply cared about the impact of Covid.
“I knew from that experience what an appalling 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,” Johnson passionately responded to allegations that he didn’t care about the reaction to the behavior.
The Covid-19 inquiry also heard that Boris Johnson referred to his own Government’s facemask policy as “f***** up” in the summer of 2020, the Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.
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.
After being shown repeated instances of Patrick Vallance attributing the phrase “let it rip” to the former prime minister, Johnson has denied using the phrase.
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