Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Adam Forrest,Archie Mitchell and Tara Cobham

Boris Johnson Covid Inquiry – live: Ex-PM to face second day’s grilling amid anger from families

PA Wire

Boris Johnson denies deleting Whatsapp messages ahead of Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson is to face a second day of grilling at the covid inquiry on Thursday.

The former prime minister will return to the hearing having been booed by crowds of bereaved families on Wednesday.

During his first day of testimony, Mr Johnson’s apology to the nation was interrupted by four people who staged a protest in the hearing room.

Mr Johnson arrived three hours early on Wednesday morning to dodge the protesters waiting outside. During the day he admitted the pandemic’s impact on the NHS had “bewildered” him. He also acknowledged the government’s policy appeared “incoherent” on the timing of actions in light of the graph in March 2020 suggesting the NHS could be overwhelmed.

Mr Johnson stumbled over his words as the inquiry heard he lost 5,000 WhatsApp messages between January 2020 and June 2020.

He also implied the mad cow disease crisis in Britain made him sceptical of the threat of coronavirus as it “wasn’t nearly as fatal as people had originally believed”.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.