Boris Johnson faces tough questions in the Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister whose term was dominated and ultimately derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, will testify Wednesday before an official inquiry into his government’s handling of the crisis.

Mr Johnson will face tough questions about whether he waited too long to impose a lockdown when the virus swept Britain in March 2020. And he will likely have to answer again for social gatherings in Downing Street that breached lockdown rules – a scandal that forced him out after a parliamentary committee concluded he had deliberately misled lawmakers about his attendance at some of those parties.

Mr Johnson is expected to admit mistakes, especially in the early days of the pandemic. But he is also expected to argue that he has done other things right, not least the rollout of a vaccine, which was among the fastest of any major country, and his decision to boost the British economy in the summer to reopen in 2021.

The former prime minister is yet the most eagerly anticipated witness in the Covid-19 inquiry, an independent, public inquiry into the UK’s response to the pandemic, led by former judge Heather Hallett, which is expected to last until 2026. is not the last big name the committee will face.

In fact, Mr Johnson could prove to be just a warm-up for the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Mr Johnson and will face questions about his performance during the crisis.

The two days of testimony will give Mr Johnson a chance to explain how he navigated between ministers like Mr Sunak, who warned of the damage of shutting down the British economy, and influential aides like Dominic Cummings, who was instrumental in gentleman insisted that the British economy should be shut down. Johnson to impose rapid, long-term lockdowns.

Critics have accused Mr Johnson of switching from one strategy to another and failing to stick to his decisions. “Part of that flip-flopping was listening to Rishi Sunak one day and Dominic Cummings the next,” said Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh.

Much of the public attention thus far has been focused on the infighting within the government. That has led some experts to express concern that the research has not yielded enough to draw lessons that would allow Britain to avoid missteps in the next pandemic.

“Apart from trying to elect a different prime minister next time, where does that leave us?” said Professor Sridhar.