Like an AI-generated training video, Rishi Sunak droned in perfect order at the Covid inquiry

The prime minister started with an apology so long and humble and sweeping and contrite that it was either terribly, terribly sincere or utterly meaningless, writes Joe Murphy

Rishi Sunak gives evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Monday (PA Media)

It must have felt like a holiday to Rishi Sunak. Phone turned off. No “star chamber” on his back; no Tory backbenchers with their halitosis, hysterical WhatsApp groups or deranged ultimata. Instead of Bill Cash, just a chat with that awfully polite KC, Hugo Keith.

The prime minister started with an apology so long and humble and sweeping and contrite that it was either terribly, terribly sincere or utterly meaningless. He was “deeply sorry” to those who lost loved ones and everyone who “suffered in various different ways throughout the pandemic”. He did not, it was noted, express sorrow for any of his own policies, not even the one Sir Chris Whitty dubbed Eat Out to Help Out The Virus. So, on balance, maybe not so sorry.

Sunak told us he had reflected a lot and wanted to give evidence “in the spirit of constructive candour”. With other politicians, a promise to be candid would quicken the pulse a bit. In Sunak’s case, it presaged a lot of tedious monologues devoid of colour. Like an AI-generated training video, his words droned in perfect order and were hypnotically forgettable.