Covid inquiry: Boris Johnson ‘to admit he made mistakes’

Boris Johnson is reportedly expected to tell the Covid inquiry that he “unquestionably made mistakes” in his handling of the pandemic.

But the former prime minister will also argue that decisions he took, including ordering three lockdowns in England, ended up saving “tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives”, according to the Times.

Johnson is expected to say that without such restrictions, thousands more people would have had “miserable and unnecessary deaths, some of them in hospital car parks and corridors” due to the health service becoming overwhelmed by the virus.

Johnson is due to appear next week before the inquiry, which he set up while still in Downing Street.

Aides to the former Conservative party leader said the briefing to the newspaper had not come from them.

A spokesperson said: “Boris Johnson will be at the Covid inquiry next week and is looking forward to assisting the inquiry with its important work.”

The Times said Johnson’s written statement, which is likely to be published after his appearance before the public inquiry, is expected to barely mention his former senior aide Dominic Cummings.

Cummings, who acted as his de facto chief of staff in Downing Street until late 2020, has been an outspoken critic of Johnson since their acrimonious split.

Johnson is reportedly expected to back the under-fire former health secretary Matt Hancock, who has been singled out for criticism by a host of inquiry witnesses, saying he did a “good job in very difficult circumstances”.

Rishi Sunak, who served as chancellor during the pandemic and whose resignation in July 2022 helped trigger the end of Johnson’s premiership, is due to be largely absent from the former premier’s written testimony, according to the newspaper.

The Times said he plans to defend Sunak’s “eat out to help out” scheme, a government-backed discount provision that was designed to support the hospitality sector after the first lockdown.

Johnson will reportedly say the proposal was “properly discussed” with England’s chief medical officer, ProfSir Chris Whitty, and the former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance despite both saying they did not know about it until it was announced.

The former prime minister is also expected to say the UK’s obesity problem made tackling the pandemic harder, the Telegraph reported.

The paper said in the draft of his written statement to the inquiry, the prime minister said a number of health issues affecting the UK put the country at a disadvantage.

Johnson is likely to be questioned about accusations that his No 10 operation was dysfunctional – a claim made by the former chancellor and health secretary Sajid Javid this week at the inquiry.

Javid said it felt like “key decisions were being made by Mr Cummings and not the prime minister”, something the experienced politician said he had never seen before under other prime ministers.

In written evidence to the inquiry published on Friday, Hancock said Johnson had apologised for hiring Cummings to work in Downing Street.

He said “the then-prime minister has apologised to me for appointing his chief adviser and for the damage he did to the response to Covid-19”.

It is not clear when the alleged apology was made.

Johnson is also likely to be asked about lockdown-breaching parties that were held in Downing Street.

The Partygate scandal triggered Johnson’s exit from high office last year and eventual decision in June, after an investigation by lawmakers into whether he misled parliament over the gatherings, to quit as an MP.

Sunak is expected to give evidence in person before Christmas.