Boris Johnson will face tough questions during Covid inquiry

The former prime minister, whose tenure was dominated and derailed by the pandemic, should admit some mistakes but also highlight his successes.

Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister whose tenure was dominated and ultimately derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, is due to testify Wednesday before an official inquiry into his administration's handling of the crisis. government.< /p>

Mr. Johnson will face tough questions over whether he waited too long to impose a lockdown as the virus engulfed Britain in March 2020. And he will likely have to answer again for Downing Street social gatherings that violated lockdown rules – a scandal which forced him to leave the UK. after a parliamentary committee concluded that he had deliberately misled lawmakers about his participation in some of those parties.

Mr. Johnson is expected to own up to his mistakes, especially early in the pandemic. But he is also expected to say he has done other things right, including the vaccine rollout, which has been among the fastest of any major country, as well as his decision to reopen the British economy in summer 2021.

Former Prime Minister is the most anticipated witness so far in the Covid-19 inquiry, an examination public and independent of the UK's response to the pandemic, led by a former judge, Heather. Hallett, this is expected to continue until 2026. But he is not the last marquee name to face the committee.

In fact, Mr Johnson could may prove to be little more than an act of preparation for the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Mr Johnson and will face questions over his performance during the crisis.

The two days of testimony, experts say, will give Mr Johnson the opportunity to explain how he navigated ministers like Mr Sunak, who put in guard against the damage caused by the shutdown of the British economy, and influential aides like Dominic Cummings, who urged Mr Johnson to impose rapid and prolonged lockdowns.

Critics have criticized Mr Johnson for jumping from one strategy to another and not sticking to his decisions. “Part of this about-face was that he listened to Rishi Sunak one day and Dominic Cummings the next,” said Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh.

So far, much of the public's attention has focused on internal struggles within the government. This led some experts to express concern that the inquiry did not do enough to draw lessons that would allow Britain to avoid missteps during the next pandemic.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Where does this come from? leave us beyond trying to elect another prime minister next time? » said Professor Sridhar.