Thursday briefing: What Boris Johnson did and did not reveal at his Covid inquiry grilling – The Guardian
December 9, 2023
First Edition
Good morning.
For about six hours yesterday, Boris Johnson finally had a chance to defend his record against the blistering criticism levelled against him over the course of the Covid inquiry since it started in June 2022. Evidence handed over to the inquiry has revealed that senior figures in his administration had significant doubts about Johnsons ability to lead and govern, creating an image of chaos, disorganisation and dysfunction during an unprecedented global health crisis.
As was expected after numerous press leaks, Johnson opened with an apology, stating that he was sorry for the pain and the loss and the suffering caused by the pandemic and acknowledging that his government may have made mistakes that added to the hurt. He also took personal responsibility for all decisions made by the government.
The stakes of this inquiry to some were immediately evident when four members of bereaved families held up pieces of paper that read the dead cant hear your apologies, as the former prime minister spoke. Protests continued outside and during one of the breaks another person yelled out youre a murderer at Johnson.
To get a rundown of the most important takeaways of yesterdays session, I spoke with the Guardians politics editor, Pippa Crerar. Thats right after the headlines.
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Israel-Hamas war | UN secretary general, Antnio Guterres, has said that he expects public order to completely break down in Gaza amid Israels continuing bombardment, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.
Hillsborough disaster | Ministers have rejected the Hillsborough law reforms that are central to a campaign by families of the 97 people killed in the 1989 disaster to prevent future police cover-ups. Instead the government has signed a charter that states a commitment by departments to openness and transparency after public tragedies.
Cop28 | The head of the International Monetary Fund has said that carbon pricing, a way to put an implicit price on carbon emissions, would generate the vast amounts of cash needed to tackle the climate crisis. It is a traditionally unpopular policy as in practice it can hit poorer people hardest if it is badly applied.
Energy | A toxic culture of bullying, sexual harassment and drug-taking risks compromising the safety of Europes most hazardous nuclear site, multiple employees at Sellafield have claimed.
***
What was not said
The most surprising part of Boris Johnsons first session was not anything he said, but his tone, which was uncharacteristically deliberate and restrained. He is obviously aware that this is a really important moment in terms of shaping his own legacy, particularly because some claim he still harbours long-term hopes of making a political comeback, Pippa says. Whether it will make a difference to the public, who lived through the impact of the governments decisions, is unlikely. What he can do, though, is not make it worse for himself, Pippa adds.
In stark contrast to his appearance at the Privileges Committee in March, in which he got very angry and that actually led to a tougher sanction, he has been quite measured, Pippa says. He has said as little as possible and even when he was defending his actions he was trying not to be inflammatory.
***
What have we learned about the governments response?
One of the biggest contentions around the governments Covid response has been the chronology: who knew what when and why did they not act sooner.
Johnson conceded that in the early months of 2020, his government had underestimated the seriousness of the disease. He said he told then health secretary Matt Hancock to keep an eye on the situation, but there was no urgency until the end of February, despite reports that 11 municipalities in Italy had locked down. The scenes rattled Johnson, he said, adding that the government should have twigged how serious the situation was at that point.
Johnson said that, despite the fact that he was told Covid had a 2% fatality rate, the government was operating under a fallacious, inductive logic that meant they did not take those warnings as seriously as they should have. All the way up to mid-March, Johnsons advisers were not pushing for a full lockdown despite rapid increases in Covid cases around the world.
The former prime minister was also asked about his disparaging remarks regarding long Covid, which he called bollocks. Once confronted with this statement, Johnson apologised and added his remarks were never meant for publication.
He also said that he did not oscillate on key decisions in the run-up to the first lockdown, despite what his former adviser Dominic Cummings has previously said, insisting that he was just considering all the different arguments on both sides to work out the best course of action. That feels a bit like a convenient excuse, because its his job to test the politics, Pippa says. Itd be negligent not to consider those factors, but what weve heard from pretty much everyone whos given evidence so far is that even if he did want to hear all sides of an argument, he himself swung between the results.
***
Misogyny and a toxic work culture
A key theme throughout the inquiry has been the toxic work culture in No 10 at the time. Johnson insisted that the abusive messages sent between staff were not an example of this but a normal exchange between impassioned colleagues. Rebutting Hugo Keith KCs suggestion that the mud-slinging and friction in government was causing a problem, Johnsons said that if Tony Blair or Margaret Thatchers staff had had WhatsApp, their exchanges would have been pretty fruity.
Though Johnson has tried to distance himself from the claim that there was a toxic work atmosphere he also tried to defend the working culture. Pippa says that there is a contradiction in what he has said: On the one hand, he says hes not responsible for this toxic atmosphere. On the other hand, it sounds as though he was actively encouraging a quite aggressive approach almost to government policy.
Johnson also said that there were too many men in meetings, an admission that came after Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, gave damning evidence to the Covid inquiry about misogyny.
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The fallacy of herd immunity
One of the biggest errors in the governments early Covid strategy was herd immunity, a form of indirect protection achieved when most people have been infected and the virus cannot spread any more.
The idea was first mentioned on 5 March 2020 and persisted until the 14th. Johnson said the strategy was misunderstood by the public: he said they hoped herd immunity would be a by-product of what the government was doing not that it was the policy itself. For a detailed breakdown on the other issues heard at the inquiry yesterday, read Matthew Weaver and Ben Quinns explainer.
***
What can we expect to hear today?
Johnson is expected to be giving another full day of evidence today. Keith will probably continue his questioning in chronological order, picking up where he left off yesterday.
Expect to hear about the decisions that led up to the second winter lockdown in 2020, Partygate, and Dominic Cummings trip to Barnard castle.
The biggest thing here, though, is that this is Boris Johnsons last-ditch attempt to rewrite history, but I think he will struggle to do so, Pippa concludes.
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In the holiday season, when longed-for family reunions can become ill-tempered before the main course is on the table (see The Bears season two episode, Fishes), Elle Hunt examines why we regress to adolescence when were back under our parents roof. Clare
If you want some ideas on how to make your wardrobe more sustainable, five writers have spent the last month mending, sewing, and washing their clothes less. Nimo
I feel entirely in the moment: Miranda Bryant joins the old and very young at the sauna, and in this sacred space for community and solitude, discovers why Finns are the happiest people in the world. Clare
Cricket | Danni Wyatt shone on her record 150th Twenty20 international appearance as England began their first tour of India in four years with an impressive 38-run victory in Mumbai. Wyatt hit 75 and Nat Sciver-Brunt made 77, with the pair sharing a match-winning stand in an imposing total of 197 for six.
Tennis | Emma Raducanu has missed out on the initial batch of wild card entries for the Australian Open. The former US Open champion has a protected ranking of 103 due to her lengthy absence from the tour following multiple surgeries but that is not currently high enough to secure entry to next months grand slam tournament.
Athletics | UK Athletics is set to announce record losses of 3.7m for the financial year after failing to secure a title sponsor or television deal in the buildup to the Paris Olympics.
The Guardian leads with Tories in turmoil as immigration minister quits over Rwanda bill. The Financial Times reports Sunaks drive to unite Tories behind Rwanda bill implodes as Jenrick quits. The Telegraph says Immigration minister quits as PM warned of electoral oblivion.
The Times has Rwanda bill is doomed says Jenrick as he quits, while the i says Jenrick quits as Sunak takes on Tory right over migration. The Mail asks Will the Tories ever give up fighting each other and start fighting Labour?
Elsewhere, the Mirror reports on Boris Johnsons appearance before the Covid inquiry under the headline The dead cant hear your apologies. Finally, the Sun reports that Anne Robinson is secretly dating Andrew Parker Bowles with Queen of mean dates Queens ex.
The lives and lies of George Santos
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But as it turned out, many of the stories he told about himself were not just exaggerations, but outright lies. Adam Gabbatt explains to Michael Safi how his rise and fall pose worrying questions about the US political system in a post-truth era.
A bit of good news to remind you that the worlds not all bad
In a pioneering new scheme, Englands first fishing apprenticeship launched earlier this autumn in south Devon. The result of years of work from industry leaders, the apprenticeship is seen as a vital part of efforts to ensure there will still be a British fishing industry in decades to come.
To draw them in, new apprentices (including Alfie Steer, pictured above) are offered pay, a relationship with a specific employer and training for skills they could use throughout their lives. These young people wont be as experienced as other crew, said lead tutor Mark Day, but they will be in the top 10% of deckhands in terms of the skills we have taught them.
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Here is the original post:
Thursday briefing: What Boris Johnson did and did not reveal at his Covid inquiry grilling - The Guardian
