Former British prime minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday (Dec 6) apologised to families of Covid victims, as he started giving evidence at a UK public inquiry into his government’s handling of the pandemic.
The hearing was briefly disrupted by a protester, who was asked to leave by the inquiry’s chairwoman.
Johnson, who resigned in the aftermath of a probe into the Partygate scandal as it was found that he misled parliament, faced massive criticism from former aides for alleged indecisiveness and a lack of scientific understanding during the pandemic.
Johnson is facing two days in the witness box. At the start of the hearing, the former PM said how glad he was to give evidence and how sorry he was for the suffering of victims and their families.
Johnson accepted that “mistakes” had “unquestionably” been made and further, stated, “I understand the feeling of the victims and their families and I’m deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and the suffering to those victims and their families.”
“Inevitably we got some things wrong,” Johnson said, before adding “we did our level best” and that he took personal responsibility for decisions made.
The former PM had arrived around three hours early for the proceedings, with some suggesting he was eager to avoid relatives of the Covid bereaved who gathered outside later in the morning.
In the UK, nearly 130,000 people died from Covid by mid-July 2021, one of the worst official per capita tolls among Western nations.
(With inputs from agencies)
