UK Covid Inquiry: Boris Johnson's evidence reveals just how unfit he was to be Prime Minister during pandemic – Scotsman comment

Former Prime Minister displayed a reckless attitude towards the threat posed by Covid and then long Covid

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Dorland House in London, where he is giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA)

As he gave evidence to the UK Covid Inquiry about his initial failure to recognise the threat posed by the disease, Boris Johnson admitted: “We should collectively have twigged much sooner. I should have twigged.” The former Prime Minister also said mass gatherings like the Cheltenham Festival in March 2020 should have been banned and he should not have shaken hands with Covid patients that same month.

These admissions help explain why Johnson was entirely unfit to run the country during the most serious crisis it has faced in modern times. His failings may have been partly due to the information he was getting from those around him, but an important part of a Prime Minister’s job is to ensure he receives the best advice.

He might have been better informed if he had attended five emergency Cobra meetings about the virus in early 2020, rather than giving them a miss. He also chose to fill his Cabinet with Johnson loyalists, rather than the most talented Conservative politicians, and to surround himself with the likes of the foul-mouthed Dominic Cummings, whose main claim to fame was the mendacious pro-Brexit campaign.

Johnson’s reckless attitude showed itself again when, on being presented with a briefing paper about long Covid in October 2020, he wrote the word “bollocks” on it. In February 2021, Johnson wrote: “Do we really believe in long Covid?... I bet it's complete Gulf War Syndrome stuff.”

This is not as bad as Donald Trump’s suggestion that disinfectant could be injected into Covid patients (a potentially fatal mistake), but Johnson was similarly choosing to believe his hunches over expert evidence – a mindset that may have encouraged him to bullishly conclude the nation could simply tough Covid out, until this position became untenable.

His personal torment and rapidly changing views during this time have been described by others within his inner circle, although, like Johnson, some are hardly the most credible witnesses. The precise results of Johnson’s arrogance and lack of attention to detail may be hard to discern, but the fact remains the UK ended up with one of the worst Covid death tolls in western Europe.