Boris Johnson heard today at the British inquiry into the management of the pandemic

O The Times reported over the weekend that Johnson intends to apologize and admit that he “undoubtedly made mistakes”, but, according to the same media, he will also claim that his decisions helped save thousands of lives in the United Kingdom.

Public broadcaster BBC also reported that Johnson will highlight the success of the vaccination program and the fact that the country came out of confinement earlier than other countries.

The hearing with the former Conservative leader comes after weeks of criticism of his administration from people who worked closely with him during that period, including advisors.

Former communications director Lee Cain claimed the Covid-19 pandemic was “the wrong crisis” for Johnson’s “capabilities”, while the Government’s former chief scientific adviser during the crisis, Patrick Vallance, revealed that the former prime minister minister was “confused” by the scientific data.

Boris Johnson is expected to be asked about the “parties” at the official Downing Street residence that broke social distancing rules and his resistance to declaring confinements.

Then-health minister Matt Hancock said last week that faster action in March 2020 would have meant that “less than a tenth of the number of people would have died in the first wave”.

The United Kingdom has had one of the deadliest outbreaks in the world, with around 230,000 deaths related to the new coronavirus recorded, according to the executive’s statistics.

Families of victims and the opposition claim that the decisions and actions of politicians at the time contributed to many unnecessary deaths.

Johnson’s 200-page statement has already been delivered to the inquiry, chaired by former judge Heather Hallett, and the hearing is expected to begin at 10:00 (the same time in Lisbon).

The current Prime Minister, also conservative Rishi Sunak, at the time Minister of Finance, is expected to be heard in this inquiry by the end of the year.

The investigation will take three years to complete.

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