Protestors Interrupt Boris Johnson’s Covid Inquiry ‘Apology’

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s opening apology to the nation during his Covid Inquiry cross-examination was abruptly interrupted by protestors Wednesday.

As Johnson expressed his deep sorrow “for the loss, pain and suffering” of Covid victims, four individuals staged a protest, leading to their ejection from the hearing room.

Johnson began: “I am deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and suffering of those victims and their families and grateful that I am to the hundreds of 1000s of healthcare workers and many other public servants, people in all walks of life who help to protect our country, throughout critical pandemic.”

At this stage the protestors stood up, holding signs that read: “The Dead can’t hear your apologies.” Despite being instructed to sit, the protestors initially resisted.

He continued: “I do hope that this inquiry will help to get the answers to the very difficult questions that those victims and those families are rightly asking,” Johnson added.

Johnson is facing scrutiny over his handling of the pandemic and acknowledged that he took “personal responsibility.”

“I take personal responsibility for all the decisions we made,” Johnson said.

He continued: “With hindsight it may be easy to see things that we could have done differently. At the time I felt that, and I know that everybody else felt that we were doing our best in very difficult circumstances to protect life and also to protect the NHS.”

Outside the court, protestor Kathryn Butcher, 59, who suffered a personal loss during the pandemic, losing her sister-in-law, articulated the group’s sentiment to reporters. She said: “We didn’t want his apology. When he tried to apologise we stood up. We didn’t block anybody. We were told to sit down.”

The former prime minister was also questioned about criticisms of his leadership style. Lee Cain, his former No 10 director of communications, described Johnson’s approach as characterised by “dither and delay,” a sentiment echoed by other witnesses.

Johnson, who had previously indicated his intention to issue an “unreserved apology” and admit to initial complacency about the virus threat, showed support for former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who also faced criticism during the inquiry.