Date set for Boris Johnson's Covid Inquiry reckoning as he faces grilling under oath

Boris Johnson will be questioned under oath over his time as PM

Boris Johnson will be questioned under oath over his time in No10 as he’s hauled before the Covid Inquiry next week.

The former PM will give evidence across two days on Wednesday and Thursday, before Rishi Sunak appears the following week. Mr Johnson will face difficult questions, including over claims he said he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than impose another lockdown.

He previously denied to Parliament that he had made the remark, but his former chief-of-staff Lord Lister told the Inquiry earlier this month that he heard Mr Johnson say it during a meeting in September 2020.

The former PM will also be questioned about bombshell diary entries written by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who said he was “obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going”. In December 2020, the top scientist recorded that Mr Johnson had told him that Conservative MPs think “the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people”, before adding: “I am not entirely sure I disagree with them.”

Other entries from Sir Patrick’s diaries include multiple examples of Mr Johnson being “bamboozled” or “confused” by science. In January 2020, he recorded that Mr Johnson had said: “My gut tells me this will be fine”. Dominic Cummings and former No10 director of communications Lee Cain both told the Inquiry earlier this month how Mr Johnson dithered over key decisions as he constantly changed his mind.

In a stark WhatsApp message a fortnight before the first lockdown, Mr Cummings told the then PM: “The overwhelming danger here is being late and the NHS implodes like zombie apocalypse film – not being a week early.” Mr Cain said it was “the wrong crisis for this Prime Minister’s skillset”, as he admitted Mr Johnson was a “challenging character to work with” as he “will oscillate” and “take a decision from the last person in the room”.

Mr Cummings conceded it was “pretty insane” many senior government officials including Mr Johnson went on holiday in February 2020 half term rather than help to prepare for the pandemic. The Inquiry has also heard claims Mr Johnson asked scientists if people could kill Covid by blowing a hairdryer up their nose.

When Mr Sunak appears in the following week he will face his own tricky questions, including over evidence heard by the Inquiry that suggested he believed ministers should “just let people die and that’s okay” during the pandemic.