Covid Inquiry live: Boris Johnson arrives early for two days of evidence
Boris Johnson will face the first of two days of questioning over his handling of the pandemic when he appears before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
It's off to a bad start, with the former prime minister denying deleting WhatsApp messages after it emerged he had not been able to provide the inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020.
The highly anticipated appearance by Mr Johnson is expected to see him admit that his government made mistakes in its response to the virus, but argue that its decisions ultimately saved lives.
Covid Inquiry live: Boris Johnson arrives early for two days of evidence
Not you again
Good morning politics fans. Boris Johnson has arrived at the Covid Inquiry, where he'll face a two-day grilling over his handling of the pandemic.
Previous witnesses have accused him of letting his wife run the country, overseeing a toxic atmosphere in Downing Street, and failing to understand basic science.
Put the kettle on and grab some popcorn, it's going to be absolutely mega.
Boris Bashing
Boris Johnson will begin his evidence at 10:00am, but has sparked amusement among Tory MPs by arriving three hours early.
Policing minister Chris Philp joked “it's the first time Boris has ever been early for anything”, which is good to hear from someone who thought he should run the country.
If you've somehow missed the evidence so far, the general summary from people who worked with Boris Johnson is that, and I am paraphrasing here, is that he was totally rubbish.
That said, here's the questions he's likely to face as he tries to salvage his reputation amid a deeply damaging inquiry.
Et tu, Guto?
Not everyone is being critical of Mr Johnson this morning, with Guto Harri, his former director of communications, instead rising above the criticism to have a massive go at everyone else.
He told Times Radio: "The tragedy for me is that three of the most senior aides that he had, including somebody who's meant to be the professional head of the neutral civil service, had a pathetic little WhatsApp group together. And they were just b******g about the prime minister and his wife, dare I say, when they should have been executing what were the difficult judgement calls made by him and the elected cabinet members at the time. That's the real tragedy of this. He was let down very badly by them."
Poor Boris, it's not his fault.
Not so warm welcome
One benefit to arriving early for Mr Johnson is, he's managed to avoid being confronted by protesters.
Quite the group here, waiting outside for him.
Crisis management
Perhaps aware that the inquiry could be quite damaging for him, Boris Johnson has sought to get ahead of things by briefing friendly newspapers what he'll say, ensuring positive headlines before what happens next.
He is expected to admit that his government made mistakes in its response to the virus, but argue that its decisions ultimately saved lives.
Briefing backlash
Boris Johnson's attempts to get ahead of things have gone down very badly with bereaved families outside the inquiry.
Aamer Anwar, lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, told a press conference ahead of the former prime minister’s evidence in west London: "Boris Johnson is expected to issue an apology this morning.
“Yet he will claim he saved thousands of lives.
“For many of the bereaved that will be a grotesque distortion of the truth.
“In Boris Johnson's words, instead of solving a national crisis, his government presided over a total disgusting orgy of narcissism.
“He did let the bodies pile up and the elderly were treated as toxic waste.
“As a result, over a quarter of a million people died from Covid. They cannot speak for themselves but their families, the bereaved and all those impacted by Covid deserve the truth today.”
For whom the bell polls
Away from the Boris show, Savanta have just published new polling showing Labour enjoying a 15 point lead over the Tories.
That's still a massive lead for Sir Keir Starmer, but the gap has been cut by three points, so. Big progress for Rishi Sunak.
Here we go
Minutes until kick-off, how's everyone holding up?
Let us know in the comment section if you're watching, where you're watching and how you feel about Boris Johnson. He's a man who divides opinion, and I'm fascinated to see if the next two days change any minds.
Let's get into it.
Oath breaker
Boris Johnson is currently swearing on the bible he'll be true, which he's obviously had no issues with before.
We begin with the chair of the Covid Inquiry Lady Hallitt criticising Boris Johnson for briefing out his evidence in advance.
She said: “I wish to express my concern about reports in the press over the last few days about the contents of Mr Johnson’s witness statement to the Inquiry and what his witness statement will be.”
Stand up for your rights
Couple of protesters have already been kicked out after standing up with signs and refusing to leave.
They weren't shown on screen, so not the most useful protest.
Whatsapp, Doc
Boris Johnson now facing questions over failing to disclose 5000 Whatsapp messages.
He doesn't know what a factory reset is, and also can't remember any discussions with scientists about making sure he kept the messages.
Convenient!
My united states of whatever
Asked what he's apologising for, and what mistakes were made, Boris Johnson appears to blame mixed messaging from the devolved nations.
He says: "Sometimes... BBC News would have one message from Number 10, And then a slightly different one, from Scotland or wherever."
Too much news
Away from the inquiry, we now have confirmation that Suella Braverman will be making a statement in the Commons later, basically having a massive go at Rishi Sunak.
One quiet day of Westminster, that's all I ask for. Will never happen.
Fantastic four?
Four people who were removed from Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 Inquiry hearing said they “didn’t want his apology”.
They said they stood up as he began apologising to hold up signs that read: “The Dead can’t hear your apologies.”
Speaking outside Dorland House in west London, Kathryn Butcher, 59, who lost her sister-in-law, told reporters afterwards: “We didn’t want his apology.
“When he tried to apologise we stood up. We didn’t block anybody. We were told to sit down.
“We didn’t sit down straight away. One of us said stayed standing, so the rest of us came out in solidarity.”
Across the detail
Asked if whether making different decisions fewer people would have died, Boris Johnson answers "not sure".
He's had years to prepare for that question, years.
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