Boris Johnson Covid Inquiry live: Latest updates as ex-PM prepares to give bombshell evidence about handling of the pandemic

Covid inquiry LIVE: Boris Johnson evidence

Watch the Covid inquiry live as Boris Johnson gives evidence in London today:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=IbtUtNUqMh0%3Frel%3D0

Watch: Boris Johnson describes how 5,000 WhatsApp messages disappeared

'Strong arguments' against going too early on lockdowns, Johnson says

There were strong arguments against going too early into lockdowns, Boris Johnson is telling the Covid Inquiry.

He is now facing scrutiny under the government’s initial decisions during the pandemic.

Mr Johnson said: ‘When it came to the balancing of the need to protect the public and protect the NHS and the damage done by lockdowns, it was very difficult.’

There is more detail on these decisions expected later.

Boris Johnson says sorry for 'pain and loss' of Covid victims as he kicks off crucial inquiry evidence – but hearing is disrupted by protests

Boris Johnson kicked off an epic two-day grilling at the Covid inquiry today as he fends off criticism of his leadership.

The ex-PM said he wanted to express how ‘sorry I am for the pain and the loss and the suffering’ of victims of the pandemic.

But the session was briefly disrupted as several people had to be removed from the public gallery at the hearing, after they stood and seemingly held up photos of people who died.

Mr Johnson is set to mount a robust defence of his handling of the pandemic, after coming under heavy fire for delaying tough restrictions in the initial phase.

Johnson clashes with Hugo Keith over excess death rates

Mr Keith says the UK had one of ‘the highest rates of excess death in Europe’.

Mr Johnson disagrees and says: The ONS data I saw put us about 16th or 19th in a table of 33.

Mr Keith clarifies he meant ‘western Europe’.

Mr Johnson responded: ‘The statistics vary and I think every country struggled with a new pandemic.’

When pushed about why the UK had such a high excess death rate, the ex-PM pointed to the UK’s ageing population. When pushed to accept that governmental decisions played a factor, Mr Johnson said: ‘I don’t know’.

Breaking: Johnson takes 'personal responsibility' for 'all decisions' during the pandemic

Boris Johnson has told Hugo Keith KC: ‘I take personal responsibility for all the decisions we made’.

Mr Johnson confirmed this includes the speed of the government’s initial response, lockdown decisions, the discharge of patients into care homes, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, and the relaxation of restrictions.

Boris Johnson: 'Unquestionably mistakes were made'

The Mail’s political editor Jason Grove is providing live updates from the inquiry.

Mr Johnson said a moment ago: ‘Unquestionably mistakes were made, and for those I unreservedly apologise.’

He added: ‘We did our level best’.

Breaking: Former PM says he never deleted WhatsApps as he denies 'factory reset' of phone

Mr Johnson is being questioned over missing WhatsApp messages on his phone.

‘I don’t know the exact reason but it looks as though it’s something to do with the app going down and coming up again, and automatically erasing all the things between the moment when it went down and the last time it had been backed up,’ he said.

Mr Keith claims there was a ‘factory reset’ of the phone.

‘I don’t remember a factory reset,’ Mr Johnson says.

‘I haven’t removed any WhatsApps from my phone,’ he adds.

Simon Case: 'PM is mad if he doesn't think his WhatsApps will become public'

Hugo Keith is reading a Whatsapp between Simon Case and Martin Reynolds.

Mr Case wrote: ‘PM is mad if he doesn’t think his WhatsApps will become public via Covid Inquiry’.

Mr Johnson told Mr Keith he ‘does not remember the conversation’ to which the message refers.

Johnson says government was 'trying to prevent the loss of life' during pandemic

Boris Johnson has told the inquiry he and his government spent the pandemic ‘trying to prevent the loss of life’.

He told Hugo Keith KC: ‘What we were trying to prevent was the loss of life.’

He accepted Mr Keith’s assertion that those responsible for protecting the public should be subject to the ‘upmost scrutiny’.

Protesters immediately interrupt ex-PM's evidence

Reporters at the inquiry say the disruption reported a minute ago was caused by ‘four people in the public gallery standing and holding up pictures’.

They were asked to sit down, and when they refused, were swiftly removed.

Ushers remove members of the public from the public gallery

Hugo Keith KC began by reminding the inquiry of the period in which Boris Johnson was the UK’s PM.

Mr Johnson began by saying: ‘How sorry I am for the pain and te loss and the suffering…’

However he was immediately interrupted after four members of the public in the public gallery stood up and held photos.

One protester held up a poster reading: ‘The dead can’t hear your apologies’.

Chair of the Inquiry the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Carol Hallett DBE asked ushers to remove them from the room.

Boris Johnson is sworn in at Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson is currently being sworn in at the Covid Inquiry under oath.

He said the evidence he will give will be ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’

'It's the first time Boris has ever been early for anything'

Policing minister Chris Philp joked ‘it’s the first time Boris has ever been early for anything’ after the the former prime minister arrived at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry about three hours before he is due to give evidence.

Mr Philp told Sky News the inquiry should be about ‘dispassionately and forensically understanding what lessons can be learnt’ but that he was ‘sure there are things we could have done better’.

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Bereaved families 'unable to sit in hearing room'

Bereaved families of coronavirus victims are ‘visibly upset’ after being told they are not able to sit in the inquiry room because of a lack of space.

Numerous relatives of those who died have turned out to watch Boris Johnson give evidence, but there simply are not enough seats to accommodate everyone, Sky News reports.

Watch: Boris Johnson arrives early on Wednesday

Watch as Boris Johnson arrived at the Covid inquiry – around three hours before it was due to begin.

Boris Johnson to give evidence from 10am

It’s now less than ten minutes until Boris Johnson is expected to begin giving evidence.

He will be questioned by Hugo Keith KC, the counsel to the inquiry.

Johnson is expected to defend his decision-making over the pandemic.

'Will they ask the right questions?'

The Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce will be among those keeping a close eye on Boris Johnson’s evidence at the Covid Inquiry today. He has tweeted the following:

Bereaved Covid families slam Boris Johnson as ex-PM prepares to say he got the big calls right

Boris Johnson’s expected claim at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that he got the big decisions right during the pandemic would be a ‘grotesque distortion of the truth’, a lawyer for bereaved families has said.

Aamer Anwar, lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, told a press conference ahead of the former prime minister’s evidence in west London: ‘Boris Johnson is expected to issue an apology this morning.

‘Yet he will claim he saved thousands of lives.

‘For many of the bereaved that will be a grotesque distortion of the truth.

‘In Boris Johnson’s words, instead of solving a national crisis, his government presided over a total disgusting orgy of narcissism.

‘He did let the bodies pile up and the elderly were treated as toxic waste.

‘As a result, over a quarter of a million people died from Covid. They cannot speak for themselves but their families, the bereaved and all those impacted by Covid deserve the truth today.’

Inquiry not able to grill Johnson on early pandemic messages after 'security concerns'

With Mr Johnson likely to be grilled on the evidence of ex-colleagues, a report in The Times revealed that he has not been able to provide the inquiry with any communications spanning the early days of the pandemic and most of the first lockdown.

The paper reported that he told Baroness Heather Hallet’s inquiry that technical experts have not been able to retrieve WhatsApp messages from between January 31 and June 7 2020.

Technical experts had been trying to recover messages from his old mobile phone to hand them to the inquiry. Mr Johnson was originally told to stop using the device over security concerns after it emerged his number had been online for years.

He then reportedly forgot the passcode, but it was believed that technical experts had succeeded in helping him recover messages for the inquiry.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said: ‘Boris Johnson has fully co-operated with the inquiry’s disclosure process and has submitted hundreds of pages of material.

‘He has not deleted any messages.’

Boris Johnson arrives at Covid inquiry to kick off bombshell evidence session TODAY as he prepares to warn lockdowns did more harm than good and insist the government was 'between a rock and a hard place'

Boris Johnson arrived at the Covid inquiry today as he prepares for an epic two-day grilling on his pandemic decisions.

The former PM was driven up to the venue in central London nearly three hours before his appearance is scheduled to begin at 10am.

Mr Johnson is set to mount a robust defence of his leadership during the crisis, after coming under heavy fire for delaying tough restrictions in the initial phase.

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Welcome to our live blog coverage

Good morning, and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the coronavirus inquiry.

From 10am former Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be giving evidence, which is expected to last for two days.

We will be bringing you all the latest updates as he is quizzed over his role in handling the pandemic.

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