By Joshua Laughter Political correspondent, BBC News
ReutersFormer Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have a chance to defend his handling of the pandemic during two days of questioning in the Covid inquiry.
Johnson is expected to apologize to the investigation and admit that his government made mistakes during the pandemic.
But sources close to Johnson told the BBC he would argue he took major calls correctly and saved lives.
The investigation saw Johnson harshly criticized by former colleagues who worked with him when the coronavirus struck.
Former communications director Lee Cain said the pandemic was the “wrong crisis” for Johnson’s “skill set”, describing hesitation and delays in making key decisions.
Former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said Johnson had been “deceived” by scientific data.
His former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, repeated his previous criticisms of his former boss, telling the inquiry that everyone had called Johnson a “bandwagon” because of his tendency to veer from one point of view to another.
But other figures at the heart of the UK’s response defended the former prime minister and his style of governance.
Settlement Secretary Michael Gove disputed claims that Johnson was “unable to make decisions” on lockdowns.
He said Johnson preferred to “make gladiatorial decisions” and wanted to see opposing arguments “rehearsed before him”.
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Cummings was trying to take power away from Johnson and create a “toxic” culture at the heart of the government that undermined its response to the pandemic.
Mr Johnson himself will now have the opportunity to record his version of events at the Covid inquiry.
A spokesman for Johnson said he looked forward to assisting the inquiry in its important work.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said it hoped to see the former prime minister challenged “over obvious lies”.
Lorelei King, who lost her husband Vince to COVID-19, He told Anna newspaper She wanted to know “why Mr Johnson did not act more quickly” to impose the first lockdown in March 2020.
While Helen Brewer, who lost her mother Dilys, said she wanted to know if he had said “let the bodies pile up high”. The former Prime Minister Reports previously denied He made the comments when he reportedly spoke about not wanting a third lockdown.
Mr Johnson’s written statement, nearly 200 pages long, has already been submitted to the inquiry.
But the former Prime Minister was unable to provide the inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020 – a crucial period before and during the first lockdown.
The inquiry requested WhatsApp messages as part of its investigation into the UK government’s decision-making process on Covid.
Tuesday, The Times reported Johnson was unable to access the WhatsApp application on an old phone, which he was using before May 2021.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow minister, said this was “typical and will be very disappointing” for bereaved families who “deserve nothing less than full disclosure”.
Johnson’s spokesman denied that the former prime minister had “deleted any messages” and said the Times report “points to a technical issue in retrieving the material which the technical team must address”.
