Ex-prime minister under cross-examination - Boris Johnson and the vexed coronavirus issue: five findings from the committee of inquiry
First things first: Boris Johnson has not changed his hairdresser. He appeared before the Covid-19 Committee of Inquiry in London yesterday with his trademark white-blonde mop of hair, apparently combed with a balloon.
But the Boris Johnson underneath the hairstyle was a different one. He had replaced his usual blustering manner with a convincingly acted earnestness and a dignified air, just as the occasion demanded. After all, the ex-prime minister was supposed to tell the truth before the committee of inquiry, even though Johnson is known to have a rather loose relationship with the truth. He even had to swear an oath on the Bible - the first of many challenges in a long day for Johnson.
The committee, which has been investigating the British government's coronavirus policy under Johnson since June, has heard testimony from scientists, ministers and government employees in recent weeks, including former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Johnson's legendary adviser Dominic Cummings. The latter, as well as a series of compromising WhatsApp messages from the chaotic days of the pandemic, ensured that much was known about Johnson's governing style even before his grand entrance. Nevertheless, even long-time observers of the former prime minister learned a few things yesterday.
Insight one: Boris Johnson gets up early when it counts
He arrived at Dorland House in west London three hours before the start of his hearing, his blond mane hidden under a thick gray bobble hat. Johnson's supporters interpreted his excessive punctuality as conscientiousness, saying he wanted to be well prepared for this important appointment. His critics rather suspect that he wanted to avoid having to look the relatives of Covid victims protesting in front of the entrance in the eye.
Insight two: Johnson has no idea how his cell phone works
5000 WhatsApp messages from the critical period for the hearing from January to the end of February disappeared from Johnson's phone without a trace, noted lawyer Hugo Keith, who led the cross-examination. "Why couldn't they be recovered?" he asked Johnson. It had "something to do with the app", he replied vaguely. Keith had a different theory: the phone had been reset to factory settings at some point. "I didn't do that, I have no idea how to do it," the former prime minister assured him. He himself is probably amazed today that he was once supposedly entrusted with the nuclear codes.
Insight three: no one has mastered the art of insincere apologies so well
Mistakes were made during the pandemic, Johnson admitted somewhat generically in his written testimony. He apologized "unreservedly" for them, he wrote magnanimously. Hugo Keith was suspicious of this. "What mistakes exactly were you apologizing for?" he wanted to know. At this point, Boris reverted to his usual rambling mode. Well, communication, for example, he said evasively, that was different in Scotland than in England, and that would have to be better organized in the future.
Keith didn't let up. "What communication do you mean exactly?" - "Well, unfortunately people died," Johnson continued, but it had also been a difficult situation, perhaps mistakes had been made - "but I don't want to anticipate your questions," he added hastily. Just no voluntary admissions, that would be even nicer.
Insight four: Who needs consultants?
"How were we supposed to know the extent of a pandemic like this?" Johnson replied to the question of why the British government only ordered the first lockdown more than ten days after its Western European neighbors, despite alarming news from China and Italy. After all, it had been a century since the last major pandemic, he explained. Johnson elegantly ignored the fact that, as Prime Minister, he had been surrounded by a number of scientific experts - and that experts in the field of pandemics had already predicted weeks in advance everything that was soon to happen. Even the stoic judge Heather Hallett couldn't help but glance incredulously at Johnson at this point.
Finding five: Long Covid? Just "bullshit"
Boris is one of the old school, just like his idol Winston Churchill, but unfortunately he lacks his strategic and political talent. He considers his fellow countrymen to be squeamish, writing in a note about Covid risk groups, i.e. people with pre-existing conditions and senior citizens, that they were "already on the home straight" anyway and that the economy couldn't be ruined because of them.
In March 2020, Johnson still believed that the pandemic was "no big deal" and more comparable to swine flu. Once he realized that he was facing a pandemic of the century, he vacillated wildly between a herd immunity strategy and saving the ailing NHS. He described Long Covid as "bullshit". Important government decisions were often made by Johnson and Cummings on their own authority, with the government cabinet sometimes only finding out about them the day after they were announced. The atmosphere at 10 Downing Street was so chaotic and toxic that the Chief of Staff had difficulty recruiting talented staff.
Further findings are likely to follow. The questioning of Johnson continues on Thursday.
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Source: www.stern.de
