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Ex-Prime Minister under cross-examination
Boris Johnson and the tiresome Corona issue: Five findings from the committee of inquiry
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives information to the British Covid-19 investigation committee in London
© UK Covid-19 Inquiry/Handout / Reuters
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson currently has to answer questions about his time as Prime Minister during the Covid-19 pandemic. His appearance surprised some people, as did his statements.
The important things first: Boris Johnson hasn’t changed his hairdresser. As always, he appeared before the Covid-19 investigation committee in London yesterday with his trademark white-blond hair, which was apparently combed with a balloon.
But the Boris Johnson beneath the hairstyle was different. He had replaced his usual blustering manner with a convincingly feigned seriousness and composure, just as the occasion required. Ultimately, the ex-prime minister should tell the truth before the committee of inquiry, even if Johnson is known to have a rather loose relationship with him. He even had to swear an oath on the Bible – the first of many challenges in a long day for Johnson.
The committee, which has been reviewing the British government’s coronavirus policy under Johnson since June, has heard testimony from scientists, ministers and government employees in recent weeks, including former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Johnson’s legendary advisor Dominic Cummings. The latter, as well as a series of compromising WhatsApp messages from the chaotic days of the pandemic, ensured that a lot was known about his governing style even before Johnson’s big appearance. Nevertheless, long-time observers of the ex-prime minister also learned a few things yesterday.
Insight one: Boris Johnson gets up early when it counts
He arrived at Dorland House in west London three hours before his hearing began, his blonde mane hidden under a thick gray bobble hat. Johnson’s supporters interpreted his over-punctuality as conscientiousness; he just wanted to be well prepared for this important appointment. His critics suspect that he wanted to avoid having to look in the eyes of the relatives of Covid victims protesting in front of the entrance.
Finding two: Johnson has no idea how his cell phone works
5,000 WhatsApp messages from the critical period of January to the end of February disappeared from Johnson’s phone without a trace, noted lawyer Hugo Keith, who led the cross-examination. “Why couldn’t they be restored?” he asked Johnson. That had “something to do with the app,” he replied vaguely. Keith had a different theory: the phone had been reset to factory settings at some point. “I didn’t do that, I have no idea how to do it,” assured the former prime minister. He is probably amazed today that he was once entrusted with the nuclear weapons codes.
Insight three: No one is as good at the art of the insincere apology
Mistakes were made during the pandemic, Johnson admitted somewhat generically in his written witness statement. He apologized “unreservedly” for this, he wrote magnanimously. Hugo Keith was suspicious. “What mistakes exactly were you apologizing for?” he wanted to know. At this point Boris fell into his tried and tested rambling mode. Well, communication, for example, he said evasively, was different in Scotland than in England and needs to be organized better in the future.
Keith didn’t let up. “What communication do you mean exactly?” – “Well, unfortunately people died,” Johnson continued, but it was also a difficult situation, perhaps mistakes were made – “but I don’t want to anticipate your questions,” he added hastily. Just no voluntary admissions, that would be even nicer.
Insight four: Who needs consultants?
“How should we know the extent of such a pandemic?” Johnson replied when asked why the British government only ordered the first lockdown more than ten days after its Western European neighbors, despite alarming news from China and Italy. After all, the last major pandemic was a century ago, he explained. Johnson elegantly left out the fact that as Prime Minister he was surrounded by a number of scientific experts – and that experts in the field of pandemics had predicted weeks in advance everything that was soon to happen. Even the stoic judge Heather Hallett couldn’t resist giving Johnson an incredulous sideways glance at this point.
Insight five: Long Covid? Just “bullshit”
Boris is one of the old breed, like his idol Winston Churchill, but unfortunately he lacks his strategic and political talent. He considers his compatriots to be squeamish, and in a note he blames Covid risk groups, i.e. people with previous illnesses and senior citizens, that they were “already on the home stretch anyway” and that the economy cannot be ruined because of these people.
As recently as March 2020, Johnson believed the pandemic was “no big deal” and more comparable to swine flu. When he finally realized that he was faced with a once-in-a-century pandemic, he vacillated wildly between a herd immunity strategy and saving the ailing national health system, the NHS. He described Long Covid as “bullshit”. Important government decisions were often made on their own initiative by Johnson and Cummings, and the government cabinet sometimes only found out about them the day after they were announced. The atmosphere at 10 Downing Street was so chaotic and toxic that the chief of staff had difficulty recruiting talented staff.
Further findings are likely to follow. Johnson’s questioning will continue on Thursday.