Boris Johnson to be grilled at Covid inquiry next week

The former PM will answer questions about his decision-making including the claim he was ‘obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life’

Boris Johnson will appear before the Covid 19 inquiry next Wednesday and Thursday, it has been confirmed.

The former prime minister will answer questions about the government’s decision-making during the pandemic.

Mr Johnson will be the only figure at the inquiry next week, and is scheduled to sit from 10.00am to 4.30pm on both days in a marathon evidence session.

It will offer the ex-PM a chance to answer criticism of his handling of the pandemic, including the incendiary claim that he was “obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going”.

The claim is one of many damaging recollections about Mr Johnson in the diaries of Sir Patrick Vallance, then the government’s chief scientific adviser.

Sir Patrick also said Mr Johnson believed that Covid was just “nature’s way of dealing with old people” and that he was “sure people are going into hospital with Covid who don’t need it”.

Mr Johnson is also likely to face questions about the Partygate scandal, which former health secretary Sajid Javid said made passing Covid measures “significantly more problematic”.

And he will likely be asked about claims that he wanted to be injected with Covid live on TV “to show it did not pose a threat”.

The probe so far has painted a damning picture of Mr Johnson’s Downing Street operation, with secret WhatsApp messages revealing the behind the scenes chaos and infighting.

Simon Case, Mr Johnson’s former private secretary and now Britain’s top civil servant, said the PM and his inner circle were "basically feral". And the inquiry heard that former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill described his administration as "brutal and useless".

On Wednesday, Mr Javid said he had “not experienced that extent of dysfunction in any government before”. And he said that Mr Johnson’s then top aide Dominic Cummings acted as prime minister in all but name and was the driving force behind key decisions during the pandemic.

Another key focus of the inquiry has been Mr Johnson’s notorious flip-flopping over major decisions.

Lee Cain, another long-term adviser who served as No 10’s communications director in the pandemic, said Mr Johnson’s erratic decision-making was “rather exhausting”.

Mr Cain said his former boss would “often delay making decisions” and “change his mind on issues” after seeking advice from multiple sources.

He added that Covid was “the wrong crisis” for Mr Johnson’s skillset.