Boris Johnson at the Covid inquiry: key takeaways

Boris Johnson, who used to be the prime minister of the UK, has said sorry multiple times for errors made during the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, during the initial day of his testimony in the Covid inquiry, he also justified most of the choices he made.

These are the main points to remember from the first day of his testimony:

Johnson started his speech by expressing remorse for the agony, damage, and hardship caused.

During Johnson's effort to make a premeditated apology, a group of four individuals staged a protest within the inquiry chamber. One of the protesters displayed a sign that read, "Apologies are meaningless to the deceased." The protestors were subsequently removed from the premises.

Johnson expressed his happiness to attend the inquiry and conveyed his sympathy for the hardship, grief, and pain experienced by individuals affected by Covid.

The inquiry couldn't access around 5,000 WhatsApp messages on Johnson's phone, which were sent between January 30th, 2020 and June 2020.

Hugo Keith KC, who represents the inquiry, stated that a report given by the ex-prime minister's lawyers indicated a potential factory reset occurred in January 2020, with an effort made to bring back the data in June 2020. However, Johnson denied any knowledge of this.

"I have no recollection of that," he stated.

Johnson stood up for the "argumentative environment" within his government at 10 Downing Street.

The Covid public inquiry has revealed a harmful culture of betrayal and sexism. One person who played a significant role in this was Dominic Cummings, the former top adviser of Johnson who is no longer in contact with him. In October, he was accused of using offensive language and being disrespectful toward women who worked in the government.

Johnson chose not to explicitly name Cummings. He expressed that he was aware that some individuals presented challenges, but he didn't fully comprehend the extent of their difficulty. Nevertheless, Johnson believed that it was more beneficial for the nation to have a contentious atmosphere in No. 10 rather than one where everyone complies with him and the scientists' instructions without question.

Johnson stood his ground on his choice to not dismiss Matt Hancock from his position as the health secretary.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Hancock received a lot of criticism and Cummings, along with former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill, advised Johnson to fire him. This caused a lot of controversy around the situation.

According to Johnson, being a prime minister means people are always urging you to fire someone. Johnson mentioned that one adviser had a negative view towards the health secretary. Johnson believed that the adviser was mistaken. Johnson thought that although the health secretary may have made mistakes, he was still working hard under difficult circumstances and was good at communicating. In Johnson's opinion, the health secretary was doing his best.

When questioned about Cummings' statement that Johnson wanted to sacrifice Hancock for the investigation, he dismissed it as utter nonsense, stating that he had no recollection of such a conversation.

Johnson has confessed that the process of making decisions regarding Covid was too heavily influenced by men.

Johnson admitted to the inquiry that his team did not have a fair representation of genders. Prior to this, a senior government official named Helen MacNamara had testified that there was a systematic favoritism towards men in decision-making regarding Covid.

According to Johnson, there were excessive male-dominated meetings during the pandemic.

Johnson expressed regret for his lack of response to sexist assaults made on a government worker.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Cummings advised Johnson to dismiss MacNamara and expressed his dissatisfaction with her using foul language. When asked why he didn't put a stop to such behavior, Johnson admitted to apologizing to MacNamara for not intervening.

Johnson continuously belittled individuals who are experiencing Long Covid.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Johnson made derogatory comments about Long Covid, calling it "bollocks," and comparing it to soldiers lying about having Gulf War syndrome. Johnson has since apologized for these remarks, stating that they were never meant to be made public. He expressed regret for any hurt or offense caused to those who are truly suffering from the syndrome, and claimed he was simply seeking clarification from his officials about what the syndrome entails.

Johnson acknowledged that he had not fully comprehended the potential dangers during the initial phases of the health crisis.

The ex-leader of the government stated that he and the Whitehall administration did not comprehend the gravity of the pandemic during the end of January and the beginning of February in the year 2020.

When questioned why the news on January 29th regarding the virus spreading beyond China did not ring alarm bells, Johnson explained that they were not fully able to understand the gravity of the situation. The issue was that they did not give enough importance to the warning signs and because of past experiences with infections transmitted between different animal species, the warning was not taken seriously enough by those working in the government.

He stated that it is apparent that they had miscalculated the dangers in the initial weeks. If they had comprehended the rapid spread of Covid-19 and its asymptomatic transmission, they would have made different decisions. They were relying on incorrect assumptions based on past worst-case scenarios.

During the 2020 February half-term school holiday, Johnson maintained that he was actively working despite accusations of being disengaged. This sparked controversy and raised concerns over his level of involvement.

During the investigation, it was stated that Johnson took a vacation at Chevening House, which is typically used by British prime ministers, from February 14th to February 24th in 2020. It was also said that his staff did not inform him about the Covid situation and he did not attend the two Cobra meetings that happened during this time. However, Johnson denied this claim. He stated that he did not take a long vacation and was working throughout the period, with an increased tempo.

According to the statement, he made contact with two prominent figures, namely Chinese President Xi Jinping and former US leader Donald Trump, to exchange thoughts about Covid and review its origins.

According to Johnson, during a meeting on February 28th, the figures for the worst possible outcome were shown, and the numbers were so shocking that he found it hard to believe.

"I had the impression that since the UK has had numerous severe flu pandemics, if this virus is less severe, it wouldn't be considered an unusual situation. Consequently, I was puzzled by the fact that the World Coordinate System was set at 520,000."

The person leading the investigation scolded Johnson for releasing information from his statement as a witness.

Prior to Johnson's statement, Lady Hallett who was responsible for leading the inquiry expressed her dissatisfaction with the media disclosures concerning Johnson's anticipated testimony.

She expressed worry about recent news stories regarding Mr. Johnson's witness statement for the inquiry and the testimony he will provide.

Until a witness is summoned and attends a hearing, or the inquiry releases the witness's testimony, it is supposed to be kept private between the witness, the inquiry, and the essential participants... Disregarding confidentiality weakens the inquiry's capacity to perform its role in an impartial, efficient, and autonomous manner.

The statement made by Johnson, which suggests that people will die regardless, highlights a lack of compassion and empathy. This can be described as a callous decision.

In March of 2020, an internal note from the government revealed that Johnson expressed doubts about harming the economy for individuals who were inevitably going to die. When questioned about the note, Johnson commented that it demonstrated the harsh reality of making difficult decisions during that time.

He was also questioned about the significance of a note he wrote by hand that read: "Our approach is harming the individual to eliminate the problem."

According to Johnson, he might have mentioned the importance of taking actions that could result in negative consequences as a means of controlling the spread of the virus. The idea was to suppress it effectively.

According to the latest update, Johnson acknowledged that Rishi Sunak, who was the chancellor at that time, cautioned him about the potential risk that the UK's bond market could face in the future. It could have hindered the ability to collect debt. Apparently, previous reports indicated that Sunak was one of the government officials who did not support imposing a national lockdown.

It is highly probable that Johnson talked about the Covid situation with Lord Evgeny Lebedev, a prominent media personality from Russia, a short while before the imposition of the lockdown.

Earlier proof has brought up concerns regarding the proximity of Johnson and Lebedev. Lebedev's appointment as a peer for life in 2020 was met with controversy.

According to the disclosed records, he had a meeting with the owner of the newspaper and even made a phone call during a 10-day period of crisis when the inquiry was shifting its strategic approach right before the first lockdown. The lawyer representing the inquiry confirmed this.

When questioned about it, he answered that Lebedev, the proprietor of the Evening Standard paper in London, probably desired to stay aware of the situation in the city. Johnson stated that he aimed to provide Lebedev with updates and assistance.