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Boris Johnson was sworn into the official UK Covid-19 inquiry to give evidence on his handling of the pandemic this morning.
While the appearance was widely mooted as a blockbuster session, Johnson appeared to mostly adopt a defensive position – and apologised to the families bereaved by the disease.
The former prime minister’s hours at the helm continue with Chancellor Rishi Sunak taking over next week.
And although there were none of the shock revelations that followed chief adviser Dominic Cummings turn, here’s what we learned:
Johnson, who in the past has been criticized for his inability to master the details, said at the inquiry that he would probably have only read the minutes of a key organization of scientific advisers once or twice.
When asked via lawyer Hugo Keith KC if he had read the minutes of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), Johnson revealed: “I think I looked once or twice, maybe more than that, at what Sage said. . . Sage has, in fact, produced a lot of documentation.
The former minister said he used to rely on Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Whitty to “distill [Sage’s] perspectives and convey them to me”.
And emphasizing the theme, he admitted that “in hindsight, it’s been helpful to hear Sage’s verbal exchange unpasteurized. “
The appearances by Cummings and senior officials, including Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara, were based on reports of unsavory habits within the government.
In his speech today, Johnson defended his management in the face of questions about a poisonous environment and insisted that ministers and officials “have done a lot of terrible things. “
He argued that it was better for the UK and “creatively useful” for leaders to criticise each other, as this led to more work, than to risk being “deferential” and “reluctant to cause trouble”.
However, she also said she regretted that there are not more women in office; that too many meetings were “male-dominated”; and that gender balance “should have been better. “
The former prime minister said he had personally called and apologised to MacNamara, who he allegedly quoted through Cummings in profanity-filled WhatsApp messages.
Johnson told the inquiry that he may remember all the conversations in which former fitness secretary Matt Hancock claimed to have tried to raise concerns about the pandemic with him.
Hancock claimed he tried to warn Johnson about Covid-19 four times in January 2020.
The former prime minister said he had spoken to Hancock on January 7, but added: “To be frank, I don’t have all those conversations, but it is true that we would have spoken a few times, as we usually talk a lot. “
He said he remembered a March 13 call in which the then-fitness secretary called for an immediate shutdown, as Hancock claimed in his testimony last week.
“I’m afraid I don’t know, but it’s been a long time,” Johnson said. “I think my way of thinking at the time was that I’m pretty much in virus mode now. . . We want to fix this. “
Johnson admitted he should have “twigged much sooner” when the pandemic took hold in Italy in February 2020.
Scenes of wrecked hospitals appeared in the news at the time, with the former prime minister recalling that “the scenes in Italy shook me. “
He told the inquiry that he had noticed a note saying that the death rate in Italy was 8% due to its elderly population and reflected that Britain also had an ageing population.
But Johnson emphasized, although he called it “appalling,” that his “instinct ‘this number can’t be true. ‘”
“I look at all of this, where we now seem so alien, with horror, that we’ve twisted, twisted together long before. . . I’ve stumbled. “
Johnson said at the inquest that he had not shaken hands with patients at the Royal Free Hospital in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and claimed it was a mistake.
“I haven’t done that, in hindsight, I’ve been more careful, but I tried to inspire people,” he said, adding that he wasn’t aware of the official advice.
The former prime minister also admitted in hindsight that mass gatherings stopped earlier, after the Cheltenham Racing Festival started with spectators from March 10, while Liverpool hosted Atletico Madrid on March 11.
He said the recommendation against cancelling mass gatherings, which would cause more people to congregate in pubs to watch games than outdoors, “seemed moderate at the time. “
But he said: “In hindsight, as a symbol of the seriousness of government, rather than simply letting science advise us, perhaps we deserve to have done so. “
The inquiry continues.