EX-Tory PM Boris Johnson claimed he worked while on a half-term trip away from London just before the pandemic took over – files have suggested he walked his dog and hosted pals instead
Boris Johnson allegedly took four days off as a holiday to ride his motorbike and host guests as the UK entered the deadly pandemic.
The then Prime Minister allegedly took the minibreak during the half-term holidays in February 2020, according to leaked government documents. Johnson went to the Chevening estate in Kent as he allegedly took a break from government business during the crucial time. The recent covid inquiry said the introduction of a lockdown just a week earlier could have saved more than 20,000 lives and described February 2020 as a “lost month”.
Instead the former-PM spent most of his time walking his dogs and riding a motorbike on the break.
READ MORE: Covid Inquiry concludes Boris Johnson’s late lockdowns killed thousandsREAD MORE: Four things UK could’ve done differently after Covid delays cost 23,000 Brit lives
The covid inquiry said the government response to the virus halted in the half-term holidays, when Johnson, 61, left Westminster for Kent. He told the inquiry: “I was working throughout the period and the tempo did increase.”
The ex-Tory leader was quizzed on what he did between the 14 and 24 of February that year, during a previous appearance in 2023. Despite his claims of hard work during the half-term break, official documents appear to challenge that, according to The Guardian.
Files have suggested Johnson did not do any official government business between February 15 to 17 and the 21st. The then PM did appear to find time to walk his dog Dilyn, host lunch and dinners for pals and ride a motorbike gifted to him but his wife Carrie.
Documents between February 12 and 24 reportedly do not show the PM working on Covid and precautions for the incoming pandemic. Despite this, Johnson claimed ha had spoken to other world leaders about the virus during that time.
This week, the inquiry chair concluded that Johnson’s government did “too little, too late” in the face of the deadly pandemic.
The inquiry also deemed that more than 20,000 lives could have been saved if the lockdown started just a week earlier. It also suggested the lockdowns also could have run for less time.
The damning report also revealed a “toxic and chaotic” culture had taken over Downing Street while Johnson was leading the country. It said: “Mr Johnson should have appreciated sooner that this was an emergency that required prime ministerial leadership to inject urgency into the response.”
Baroness Hallett, in the final line of her chair’s statement, said: “Unless the lessons are learned and the fundamental change is implemented, the human and financial cost and sacrifice of the Covid-19 pandemic will have been in vain.”
