Latest Covid inquiry: Bereaved families criticize Johnson’s ‘deafening silence’ on pandemic mistakes

Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Relatives of those who lost loved ones to the pandemic have accused the former prime minister of “one of the biggest betrayals of the British people in modern history” and called for him to lose public funding.

“Boris Johnson’s silence is deafening and his contempt for victims is palpable,” said Bereaved Families of Covid-19 for Justice UK.

His actions during the pandemic are one of the greatest betrayals of the British people in modern history. His decisions, delays, and refusal to heed warnings cost tens of thousands of lives that could and should have been saved.

He must be held accountable. We don’t want an apology, we want consequences. Boris Johnson should have no role in public life and no right to public funding.

“We now demand that every privilege be removed from high office. . . . It is intolerable that bereaved families are expected to subsidize the lifestyles of those whose decisions led to the deaths of our loved ones.”

The group also said it would pursue all legal options to hold Johnson personally responsible for his actions during the pandemic.

Baroness Heather Holt’s report on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic drew wide-ranging conclusions about the government and its role in protecting lives.

Behind these decisions were 10 key figures – each of whom are considered in the findings.

You can read everything Baroness Halt had to say about Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock, Dominic Cummings and more below…

According to Baroness Hallett, women’s views were often “ignored” under Boris Johnson’s “toxic and chaotic culture” at No 10.

“By failing to confront this turbulent culture and at times actively encouraging it, Mr. Johnson fostered a culture where the loudest voices prevailed and the opinions of other colleagues, particularly women, were often ignored, to the detriment of good decision-making,” she said.

According to the findings, Boris Johnson repeatedly changed his mind about imposing tighter restrictions in September and October 2020 and failed to make timely decisions.

The report said his “fluctuation allowed the virus to spread rapidly” and led to a second four-week quarantine in November.

The report also found that PartyGate and other breaches of the Covid laws had caused “great distress” to people, particularly “those affected who had followed the rules and guidance despite huge personal and financial costs”.

The Downing Street party saga in particular led to a “self-reported” drop in compliance at Christmas 2021.

Scottish group Covid Bereaved has said it will hold the government to account to ensure lessons are learned from the pandemic.

In her report published on Thursday, Baroness Heather Holt found that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon had “marginalized” ministers and senior advisers and turned the Scottish Cabinet into a decision-making body.

The former prime minister’s government was also criticized for having a “realistic strategy” in the months before the pandemic was declared over the virus outbreak.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Friday, Maggie Waterton said a group who had lost a loved one during the pandemic would ensure lessons were learned on board.

He said: “Some of us from Covid Bereaved Scotland are working with the Scottish Government as part of their stakeholder approach to how they look at the UK Covid Inquiry’s recommendations.

“Our decision is that as citizens of Scotland, it is our role and our responsibility and our responsibility to make sure that we hold our politicians to account and make sure that they act on these recommendations, that they implement them fully and that these changes are made meaningfully and quickly, so that we learn these lessons and this does not happen again.”