Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized this Wednesday for “the pain and loss” caused by covid-19 and admitted that he was wrong in some decisions made during the pandemic.
“I understand the feelings of the victims of covid and their families and I am deeply sorry for the pain, loss and suffering caused,” Johnson said during his appearance in London.
Johnson thus began his statement before the official investigation into the pandemic, chaired by former judge Heather Hallett, who in this second of four phases examines the management of the authorities.
The former conservative leader was accused by other witnesses in this investigation of having advocated letting older people die, of not understanding scientific graphs and of governing with incompetence and chaos.
Since the beginning of the hearings in June, These collaborators, including several advisors and scientists, have described a prime minister overwhelmed, indecisive and little concerned for the victims when the pandemic broke out in early 2020, with a divided and chaotic government.
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Did Boris Johnson take too long to impose a first lockdown at the end of March 2020? Did you foresee the scope of the pandemic? Did he understand the scientific data that came to him? Was he indifferent to the victims and especially to the elderly?
“It was the worst possible crisis for that prime minister’s powers,” Lee Cain, former Downing Street communications director, told the inquiry committee in late June, describing a Johnson who did not make decisions and constantly changed his mind, depending on the last person who had spoken to him.
The former prime minister admitted that “mistakes were inevitably made” from his Government but maintained that he would be unable to “list them in a hierarchy.
Asked by the investigation lawyer Hugo Keith, Johnson assured that he “takes responsibility” for the decisions made in the pandemic, such as the date of the first confinement on March 23, 2020 – which other witnesses have said was too late – and the lack of protection in nursing homes.
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The former chief executive, forced to resign in July 2022 due to several scandals, said he was “not sure” whether his decisions led to excess deaths in the United Kingdom – one of the most affected countries in Western Europe, with 232,112 certified deaths.
He argued that the fact that there are “many older people and it is densely populated” “did not help” limit the number.
Johnson also maintained that he “has no explanation” why some WhatsApp messages with his collaborators from the beginning of the pandemic are missing. which therefore could not be examined by the experts.
The former official constantly tried to defend himself from the barrage of criticism.
“A large number of decisions, because they had to be made very quickly, were channeled directly to me,” he said at the hearing. “But there were also a large number of decisions, and I think this may not have come to light as much, that were the subject of extensive cabinet discussion,” she added.
“Very talented and very motivated people, they do the best they can, but like any human being under great stress they are prone to criticizing others,” he explained.
The former leader carefully prepared his defense, reading 6,000 pages of documents, locked up for hours with his lawyers, according to The Times newspaper, which revealed the main lines of his intervention.
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The families of the victims of covid-19 demonstrate at the doors of the room in London, whose legal team will also have the opportunity to question the former president.
Aamer Anwar, lead lawyer for the Scottish Family of Victims Group, told the press about Johnson that, “instead of resolving a national crisis, his government presided over a total and disgusting orgy of narcissism.”
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“He let the bodies pile up (a phrase attributed to the former prime minister himself) and the elderly be treated like toxic waste,” he told reporters.
“As a result, more than a quarter of a million people died from Covid. They cannot speak for themselves, but their families, the bereaved and all those affected deserve the truth,” he added.
The work of the independent commission of inquiry, chaired by former judge Heather Hallett, could last until 2026.
AFP and EFE
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