This was ‘never a realistic prospect’,it says,and the statement was ‘liable to build false belief among the public that the pandemic would be relatively short-lived’.
The Inquiry adds: ‘The final Covid-19-related legal restrictions in England were not lifted until 24 February 2022 – 101 weeks after Mr Johnson made this statement.’
Alongside Johnson and Cummings,several other top government figures are singled out for criticism in the report including Matt Hancock.
The Health Secretary ‘gained a reputation among senior officials and advisers at 10 Downing Street for overpromising and underdelivering’,it finds.
Concerns about his ‘truthfulness and reliability in UK government meetings’ were raised from June 2020,more than a year before he eventually resigned during controversy over an affair he had while social distancing rules were in effect.
Matt Hancock served as the UK Health Secretary for the first 16 months of the pandemic (Picture: Reuters)
Campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said: ‘The evidence from the inquiry is clear,and while it is vindicating to see Boris Johnson blamed in black and white for the catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic,it is devastating to think of the lives that could have been saved under a different Prime Minister.
‘We now know that many of our family members would still be alive today if it weren’t for the leadership of Boris Johnson and his colleagues.’
The Covid-19 Inquiry,led by Baroness Heather Hallett,is now in its fourth year of investigating the UK’s response to the global pandemic.
Its first report,covering the UK’s preparedness ahead of the outbreak of the disease,was published in July last year.
A further eight modules,covering issues including young people and the care sector,are currently active. Reports for all but one are expected to be published by the end of this year.
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