Fresh official documents have exposed that Boris Johnson took a four-day break during what has been described as a crucial 'lost month' in the UK's preparation for the Covid-19 pandemic. The revelation directly challenges evidence the former Prime Minister gave under oath to the official Covid inquiry.
Contradictory Evidence and a 'Lost Month'
The disclosed records, covering February 2020, show that Mr Johnson undertook no official government business on the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 21st of that month. Instead of managing the emerging crisis, he was reportedly at the Chevening estate in Kent during the half-term holidays. The logs indicate he spent his time walking his dog, Dilyn, riding a motorbike, and hosting friends and family for meals and overnight stays.
This period has been labelled a 'lost month' in the inquiry's damning report on the government's handling of the pandemic. When questioned by the inquiry in December 2023 about his activities between 14 and 24 February 2020, Mr Johnson stated, "There wasn't a long holiday that I took. I was working throughout the period and the tempo did increase." The official activity logs now appear to contradict this account.
Backlash from Bereaved and Legal Threats
The emergence of these details has intensified the backlash from groups representing the families of those who died during the pandemic. A spokesperson for the Covid bereaved families group stated this was "further evidence that he wasn't taking Covid seriously". They accused the former Prime Minister of ignoring warnings and putting his own interests ahead of the country's safety.
The group is now calling for Mr Johnson to be stripped of his ex-PM privileges and is even exploring the possibility of a private prosecution against him. Their anger was further fuelled by Mr Johnson's recent newspaper column, in which he refused to apologise and instead attacked the inquiry's chair, Baroness Heather Hallett.
Johnson's Defence and Mounting Controversy
In a defiant response, Mr Johnson used his weekly column to lambast the inquiry, which he claimed cost nearly £200 million. He criticised Baroness Hallett, suggesting she "seems, if anything, to want more lockdowns," and dismissed Professor Neil Ferguson, whose modelling estimated that a week's delay in lockdown caused 23,000 extra deaths, as "hysterical".
This controversy bears a striking resemblance to the Partygate scandal, where Mr Johnson was found to have misled the House of Commons. The new evidence raises serious questions about the accuracy of his testimony to the Covid inquiry. As pressure mounts, these revelations solidify the claims made in the inquiry's report, which found that Mr Johnson failed to exercise "proper leadership" during the pandemic's critical early stages.
