Key events
Peter Walker
In a full day of questioning by the inquiry’s lead counsel, Hugo Keith KC, Johnson frequently said he couldn’t recall meetings or what he had been told by his ministers and advisers.
In a version of events described as “deluded” by one bereaved relative watching in the room, Johnson rejected yet more evidence of bitter internal warfare involving officials, notably his then chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.
While conceding some errors over the outbreak of the virus, saying there were “clearly things we could and should have done if we had known and understood how fast it was spreading”, Johnson insisted these lessons were only apparent in retrospect.
He faces Keith for a second session shortly, when he will be challenged over delays to locking down the country for a second time, ahead of Rishi Sunak’s appearance next week.
Johnson returns for second day at the Covid inquiry
Good morning. Boris Johnson is returning to the UK Covid inquiry today to face further questions on his government’s handling of the pandemic.
Yesterday, he admitted that there were decisions that his government “could and should have” made to stop the spread of coronavirus but denied he had made major mistakes and attempted to defend the chaotic and abusive culture in his top team.
The former prime minister even insisted that a Downing Street culture widely described as toxic and dysfunctional in fact led to better decisions.
You can read the full report from my colleagues Peter Walker and Robert Booth here:
Johnson’s evidence is due to begin at 10am and we will have a live stream of it here.
