Boris Johnson says sorry for ‘pain and loss’ of Covid victims and admits mistakes were made as he kicks off crucial inquiry evidence – but denies being responsible for unnecessary deaths… as hearing is disrupted by protests

Boris Johnson today apologized as he launched an epic two-day Covid inquiry.

The former prime minister said he wanted to express how “sorry I am for the pain, loss and suffering” of victims of the pandemic.

But the hearing was briefly interrupted as the hearing had to remove several people from the public gallery after they stood and appeared to be holding photographs of dead people.

Mr Johnson acknowledged mistakes were made but rejected the idea that his decisions led to more deaths.

“Can I just say how pleased I am to be part of this investigation and how sorry I am for the pain, loss and suffering of Covid victims,” ​​Mr Johnson said.

In a testy conversation with Hugo’s investigation lawyer Keith K.S. Johnson disputed that Britain had failed to save as many lives as other countries. He pointed to the aging population as the reason why the country has suffered greatly.

“All I can say is that I think many other countries have suffered terrible losses from Covid,” Mr Johnson said.

He said the data showed the UK was “significantly lower” in the international death table.

But Mr Keith said “in Western Europe we were worse off” and only Italy had suffered more.

But he intends to vigorously defend his handling of the pandemic after coming under fire for delaying tough restrictions early on.

Mr Johnson said there were “strong arguments against starting lockdown early”.

But he stressed the government was “between a rock and a hard place” and had “no good options.”

Mr Johnson is expected to say the inquiry has taken too little account of the failings of restrictions on education, health and the economy.

In written testimony, Mr Johnson said he had a responsibility to consider “whether the lockdown will (and has) done more harm than good”.

He added: “We were between a rock and a hard place. We simply didn’t have a good choice, and we always had to weigh the harm that any choice could cause.”

He is also expected to repeat his denials that he ever said to “let the bodies pile up high” rather than order a third lockdown.

Downing Street categorically denied he made the comment at the time, insisting it was “just another lie”.

The former prime minister was driven to the venue in central London almost three hours before his speech was due to start at 10am.

As a result, he missed protests from grieving relatives who held a press conference before the hearing.

Johnson’s former chief of staff Lord Lister told the inquiry last month that he heard the former prime minister utter the words “let the bodies pile high” during a meeting in September 2020.

The former prime minister will also be questioned about Sir Patrick Vallance’s diary entries, in which he wrote about his frustrations with the then prime minister.

“(Mr Johnson) is hell-bent on getting older people to accept their fate and allowing younger people to get on with their lives and grow the economy,” he said.

“An absolutely crazy set of exchanges,” he wrote, referring to a WhatsApp group that includes Mr Johnson.

Conservative MP Sir Michael Fabricant said the inquiry was at times more interested in “indecent” WhatsApp messages between ministers and officials than in learning the lessons of the crisis.

And he called for a fair review of Johnson’s case: “I’m a little concerned that the investigation has shifted to who swore at whom, rather than focusing on the lessons learned in case, God forbid, we have another pandemic.” .

“I just hope that Boris will be heard by people with open minds and not with the bias he has faced in the past at other hearings.”

Another supporter of the former prime minister said the inquiry appeared to have started with the assumption that lockdown was the right response to the pandemic and that the government had acted too slowly.

“They seem to only be interested in whether we should close earlier or longer,” the source said.

“Until now, there has been very little discussion about the incredibly difficult trade-offs or the ever-changing scientific advice that was against early restrictions.

“If you really want to learn the lessons of the pandemic – and that’s what Boris is interested in – you have to look at everything, rather than start with a pre-determined narrative.”

Johnson is expected to acknowledge that the first lockdown in March 2020 was inevitable given the lack of a vaccine or effective treatment for the deadly new virus.

But in his written testimony, he said he was “very concerned about the economic damage caused… and whether it would cause more harm to the country than the virus itself.”

He is also expected to suggest that the investigation pay more attention to the origins of the virus. Michael Gove was not heard at the hearing when he suggested that a “significant panel” now believes Covid-19 was man-made.

Mr Johnson will apologize for the government’s mistakes during the pandemic.

But he will insist ministers “got the big challenges right” by achieving one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world, preventing the collapse of the NHS, developing innovative treatments such as dexamethasone and quickly emerging from the final lockdown.

He will also deny claims that he “switched off” during his six-month break in February 2020.