Boris Johnson boasted he'd 'come out on top' after Partygate in WhatsApps

That's all folks

That's it for today from the Covid Inquiry.

Michelle Mone's husband gifted Tories 'over £171k' as Covid PPE row rumbles on

You can read our news story about the day's events here.

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Partygate boast to sweary WhatsApps - the key points

We've round up all the key moments from Boris Johnson's final day of evidence to the Covid Inquiry

Read the story here.

Boris Johnson faces jeers as he leaves the Inquiry

Boris Johnson was jeered as he left the Covid-19 inquiry after two days of giving evidence.

Protesters outside shouted "murderer" and "shame on you" as he left Dorland House in west London to his awaiting car.

Boris Johnson finishes his evidence

Boris Johnson's mammoth two-day grilling is now over.

He said - a bit unconvincingly - "I'm rather sad that's over."

He then recommended to Baroness Heather Hallett that her Inquiry should look into whether the virus firstcame from a lab in China.

“Mr Johnson, you set my terms of reference," she said drily.

500 deaths is criminal and you can't blame it on strikers - Voice of the Mirror

The Covid Inquiry is back on Monday, where it'll hear from Rishi Sunak for the first time.

​WhatsApps show Dominic Cummings ranted Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill was a 'f***wit'

WhatsApps show Dominic Cummings said Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill was a "f***wit" who should be replaced.

The rant, from August 2020, shows Mr Cummings disparaging the top civil servant's work and saying he should be replaced by Susan Acland Hood, another top mandarin.

"Tell him Susan is PermSec and he can shut his trap", he said.

Boris Johnson confronted over 'dismissive' approach to unions

Boris Johnson is confronted over an extract from Sir Patrick Vallance's diary in July 2021, which claimed he ranted about "malingering, workshy people".

The diary note also stated that he didn't want to go through the "b*****ks" of consulting with unions.

Sam Jacobs, counsel for the TUC, accused him of being "dismissive". But Mr Johnson said: "I don't believe we would ignore the interests of working people at any stage."

Boris Johnson accused of being 'shamefully ageist' with comments about letting older people die

Minister urged No10 to exempt children from 'rule of six' in October 2020

WhatsApps from October 2020 show Health Minister Helen Whateley asking if children could be exempted from the rule of six.

Matt Hancock replies that No10 didn't want to shift on this.

Rajiv Menon KC, representing a number of children's rights groups, asked Boris Johnson why Downing Street resisted this.

He replied that at this point in the time, the Government was looking to toughen up measures to stop the spread of the virus - and this would have been confusing.

Boris Johnson rejects claims of institutional racism in the NHS

Leslie Thomas KC, representing the Federation of Ethnic Minority Healthcare Organisations (FEMHO), is grilling Boris Johnson over the impact of Covid on Black and ethnic minority staff.

He asks why the Government didn't take action sooner to "mitigate the potential harsher effects of the pandemic on vulnerable and minority groups".

Mr Johnson said the Government wasn't aware initially of the disproportionate impact of the virus on ethnic minorities but this became clear.

He said it was hard to put mitigations in place without knowing the causes. The ex-PM said he was warned lockdowns would particularly impact on these groups.

Mr Johnson questioned whether it was down to greater exposure to risk due to Black and minority ethnic workers being more likely to have frontline jobs.

Mr Thomas challenged him on whether there was institutional racism in the NHS but Mr Johnson disagreed.

The lawyer asked if he has seen a Public Health England report which came to this conclusion but Mr Johnson said he hasn't.

Covid Inquiry pauses for short break

Baroness Heather Hallett has ordered a short break in questioning.

The Inquiry will return at 3.15pm.

Boris Johnson claims he 'got on very well' with Nicola Sturgeon

Boris Johnson rejected claims from his former chief of staff Lord Udny-Lister that he had "no real personal relationship" with Nicola Sturgeon.

Taking questions from Claire Mitchell KC, who represents Scottish Covid Bereaved, the former PM said that he had "no ill will whatsoever" with Ms Sturgeon, who was then Scotland's First Minister.

"When I have talked to her, we have got on very well and had a friendly relationship," he said.

Asked why a close aide would have this impression, Mr Johnson said: "Much as I love the SNP, politically there was a certain amount of toing and froing between the SNP and me as Prime Minister."

Boris Johnson warned about 'grandstanding' from devolved leaders

In his witness statement, the inquiry was told Mr Johnson has said: "It's optically wrong for the UK prime minister to hold regular meetings with other devolved administrations' ministers."

Explaining the comments, he said that one of the considerations was the "risk of pointless political friction and grandstanding because of the well-known opposition of some of the devolved administrations to the Government and to avoid necessary leaks".

He added that he thought the "way to minimise divergence and tensions was to take the temperature down and to have a business-like and practical meetings between the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the DAs".

Boris Johnson says he understands 'pain and offence' over Partygate - but he couldn't have done more to stop it

The Prime Minister is confronted over the lockdown partying in No10 on his watch.

Brenda Campbell KC, asking on behalf of Northern Ireland families, quoted a bereaved daughter who said it was “galling and sickening" to find out about a wine and cheese party on December 18 2020 - when her father was dying alone in hospital.

Mr Johnson said he understood the "pain and offence" caused by the revelations.

Asked if he could have done more to stop it, he said: "I had no knowledge of the event on the 18th at the time it took place.

"I think the trouble was people were working extremely hard in difficult circumstances."

Pressed again, he said: "Given what I knew at the time about what was going on, the answer to that is no. But what I should have done is issue an instruction to everyone to be mindful of the rules and how it would appear."

Mr Johnson did not attend the No10 Christmas do, where there was a Secret Santa and boozy speeches were made but he was in the building, where he lived at the time.

Covid Inquiry resumes after lunch

The Inquiry is continuing its grilling of Boris Johnson this afternoon.

Questions are now being put to the ex-PM on behalf of Covid bereaved families in Northern Ireland.

Boris Johnson appeared to blame Wales' high Covid numbers on 'singing and obesity', Vallance's diary extract claims

Notes from Patrick Vallance's diary claim Mr Johnson blamed Wales' high Covid numbers at the time on "the singing and the obesity."

According to the note, revealed at the inquiry, he added: "I never said that."

Notes from Patrick Vallance's diary appear to claim Mr Johnson blamed Wales' high Covid numbers at the time on "the singing and the obesity."

He (allegedly) added: "I never said that." pic.twitter.com/BKxmCLnWg7

— Mikey Smith (@mikeysmith) December 7, 2023

Boris Johnson said "F*** YOU Daily Mail" in outburst over rule of six, Vallance diary extract claims

Extracts of Patrick Vallance's diary shown to the Inquiry show Boris Johnson hit out at the Daily Mail in September 2020

The Chief Scientific Adviser noted there had been an upward spike in case in care over the last few days - adding: "Here we go again".

The notes add "PM 'we need to remember the grim history of March'. Called for package of actions. Hancock says 'we have care home winter plan. PM 'everyone says rule of 6 so unfair, punishing the young, but F*** YOU Daily Mail - look this is all about stopping deaths. We need to tell them'".

Mr Johnson tells the Inquiry: "I apologise for my language." He then adds: "I'm sorry to have said that about the Daily Mail" He says there must have been something the newspaper said about the rule of six that wound him up..

Boris Johnson is currently employed by the Daily Mail as a columnist on a reported seven-figure salary.

Boris Johnson boasted in WhatsApp he'd 'come out on top' after Partygate

Boris Johnson boasted on WhatsApp that he would "get through" Partygate and "come out on top".

The former PM exchanged messages with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case after the top civil servant was forced to step down from his role investigating lockdown-busting parties inside Downing Street after claims emerged there had been a gathering in his own office.

On December 17, 2021 Mr Johnson wrote: "Cab sec I am really sorry this thing is now causing you any kind of grief at all. The whole business is insane. We will get through it and come out on top."

'I did care,' insists Johnson as he faces awkward grilling over Partygate

Boris Johnson admitted in a WhatsApp that he should have done more to stop the party culture in No10.

The former PM sent a message to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case after the Mirror first broke stories about Partygate in December 2021. He wrote: “In retrospect we all should have told people… to think about their behaviour in number ten and how it would look. But now we must smash on.”

Asked if it showed he didn’t care about the rule-breaking, Mr Johnson told the inquiry: “I did care.” He added: “Yes, I think that we could have done more in No10 to insist that people thought about the way their behaviour would be perceived by others. I made this point repeatedly to the various inquiries that have been held already into this matter.

“We should have thought about what it would look like to have people out in the garden when other people were not allowed in the garden even though the garden was being used as a place of work.”

Mr Johnson appeared emotional as he spoke about his experience of being admitted to hospital with Covid. “To say that I didn't care about the suffering that was being inflicted on the country is simply not right,” he added.

Partygate claims are a 'million miles' from reality, says Johnson

Boris Johnson has launched an extraordinary defence of the lockdown-busting parties that took place in No10.

The former PM said he took “full responsibility for everything that the Government said or did during the pandemic and I continue to regret very much what happened”.

But he added: “I really want to emphasise that the impression of the version of events that has entered the popular consciousness about what is supposed to have happened in Downing Street is a million miles from the reality of what actually happened in No10… the dramatic representations that we're now having of this are absolutely absurd.”

Inquiry Chair Baroness Hallett who told him that Partygate had “exacerbated” the grief of people who lost loved ones during the pandemic. Mr Johnson said: “I totally understand their feelings and you know what can I do but again apologise for mistakes that we made in No10.”

Barnard Castle row was a ‘bad moment’, says Johnson

Boris Johnson has admitted that the row over Dominic Cummings breaking lockdown was a “bad moment”.

The Mirror broke the story that the PM’s top aide had driven 264 miles from London to his parents’ property in Durham in March 2020 despite having coronavirus symptoms.

Appearing at the Covid Inquiry, Mr Johnson said: “It was a bad moment, I won’t pretend otherwise. But actually, I think that what happened thereafter was fascinating in that whatever the rights and wrongs of that position I took on that episode, people continued to want us to get on with the job of fixing the pandemic.”

The inquiry previously heard that Mr Johnson wanted to rush to scrap Covid restrictions as a distraction after it was revealed that Mr Cummings had broken lockdown rules.

In a diary entry two days after the Mirror published its scoop in May 2020, Sir Patrick warned that Mr Cummings’ trip was “clearly against the rules”. He wrote: "PM seems very bullish and wants to have everything released sooner and more extremely than we would. Wants to divert from the DC (Dominic Cummings) fiasco.”

Closing schools was 'terrible' as it hit poorest kids hardest, says Johnson

Closing schools was “terrible” because of the impact on poorer children, Boris Johnson has said.

Asked about the decision to shut classrooms in January 2021, the former PM said: “We were desperate to keep schools open… It's the poorest kids who come up worst from school closures.”

He added: “Did I fight and fight in my heart and head to keep schools open? Yes, I did. I really wanted to do it, but it just wasn't a runner.”

Boris Johnson 'doesn't remember' Matt Hancock saying Covid tiered system wouldn't work

Boris Johnson is now being quizzed on the tiered system introduced in the autumn of 2020.

He claims Chris Whitty claimed a reasonable approach was still reasonable in October of that year.

The ex-PM says one of the difficulties was getting local leaders (who were asking for greater financial support) to put in measures "quickly enough". He appears to be blaming them for the policy failing.

Mr Hancock also told the Inquiry on 12 October when the tiered system was announced it would not work.

But Mr Johnson says "not that I can remember" when asked about the Health Secretary's comments.

Boris Johnson faces brutal grilling over claims he was willing to let Covid "rip"

Boris Johnson is now being shown various pieces of evidence from Patrick Vallance in which the former Chief Scientific Adviser says the PM argued to "let it rip" during Covid meetings.

The PM sits silently but appears to be getting annoyed as the evidence is shown on the screen.

But he then says: "The implication you're trying to draw from those conversations is completely wrong. If you look at what we actually did - nevermind the accounts you've culled from people's jottings... we went into a lockdown as soon as we could the first time round.

"We sensibly went into a regional approach when the disease picked up again", he says.

"It does not do justice... to say that we were remotely reconciled to fatalities across the country or that I believed it was acceptable to let it rip".

"I had to challenge the consensus in the meetings," he insists.

Boris Johnson says regional approach to restrictions was 'worth trying' in autumn 2020

Boris Johnson says a regional approach was a "sensible way to go" and "worth trying" as he ruled out a circuit breaker in the autumn of 2020.

Hugo Keith KC queries whether "worth trying" was the "correct approach" when dealing with such a momentous situation - with lives on the line.

His chief adviser and government scientific adviser were in favour of a two-week circuit breaker to avoid a national lockdown in the future.

Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told him to "go fast", documents show.

"I thought a regional approach could still save us," Johnson tells the Inquiry.

Rule-breaker Boris Johnson admits he pushed for tougher Covid rule-breaking fines

Boris Johnson - who broke Covid rules and was fined by the police - admits at the Inquiry he pushed for tougher fines for people who broke the Covid regulations.

"If we were going to have a system of enforcement it had to be pretty firm," he tells the Inquiry.

He declared in a handwritten note - according to the Inquiry: "The overriding message should be about enforcement and tougher fines".

Mr Johnson says the Government attempted to make the rules as "simple as we could".

"For the future we really need to think about how we do it again - yes it was very difficult to enforce. The complexities for the public to understand were very tough indeed".

He says in future there needs to be a "great deal of reflection" of simplifying the approach.

Boris Johnson grilled on Eat Out to Help Out as he begins giving evidence again

The former PM has taken the stand again at the Covid Inquiry.

Mr Johnson tells the Inquiry the Eat Out to Help Out scheme "seemed to make sense" to ensure the hospitality sector "had some customers" when restrictions were eased.

Asked whether he accepted the description of the scheme as "putting your foot on the accelerator" of easing restrictions, Mr Johnson said: "At the time the policy was being aired with me for the first time - it was not presented to me as an acceleration".

The former PM claims Sir Chris Whitty or Sir Patrick Vallance must have known about the scheme and "is fairly confident it was discussed several times" in meetings they were present at.

"I remember being surprised later -in September - when Chris said this is Eat Out to Help out the virus. Because I didn't remember any previous controversy about it".

He admits there were no scientists present when the scheme was developed.

The Inquiry has also announced Rishi Sunak will give evidence to the Inquiry on Monday where he will be grilled on his time as Chancellor during the crisis.

He is also expected to face questions on his Eat Out to Help Out package - which has been blamed for a resurgence in the virus.

7 Boris Johnson bombshells from long Covid rant to 5,000 lost WhatsApps

Boris Johnson admitted he "underestimated" the threat posed by Covid in the early days of the pandemic in early 2020 during his first day grilling at the Inquiry.

The former PM conceded he should have "twigged much sooner" the danger the country faced as he was grilled over his failure to take action as the virus hit.

Boris Johnson arrives hours early to the Covid Inquiry - again

The former PM has now arrived at the Covid Inquiry - almost three hours early.

Yesterday he was ridiculed for being a "coward" after he arrived three hours early and avoided bereaved families who were getting ready to hold pictures of their loved ones outside the Covid Inquiry centre.

(PA)

Covid bereaved families disgusted by 'cruel' and 'callous' Boris Johnson

Bereaved families of Covid have spoken of their "disgust" at Boris Johnson, who they accused of being "callous and disrespectful of people's lives" throughout the pandemic.

Those who lost loved ones said "everyone in the country has, in some way, been let down" by Mr Johnson, who was supposed to keep the country safe during the pandemic.

Protestor Fran Hall, 62, from Denham, Bucks, whose husband Steve Mead, 65, died three weeks after they married in September 2020, accused Mr Johnson of "trying very hard to control the narrative".

"We didn't want him to be grandstanding in the hearing room today making an apology to bereaved people and then carrying on giving his evidence without us making our feelings heard,” she told the Mirror.

Boris Johnson set to take the stand for a second day at 10am

The former PM faces a second gruelling day being interrogated by the Covid Inquiry from 10am today.

Yesterday Mr Johnson was told by families who lost loved ones "the dead can't hear your apologies" as he apologised for mistakes made during the crisis.

The former PM admitted he should have "twigged much sooner" about the danger the country faced as he was grilled over his botched response. On an explosive day at the Covid Inquiry, he admitted not attending key meetings and going on holiday days after being warned the virus would “sweep world”.

Read our full report of the day here