Boris Johnson calls partygate portrayals 'absurd' as he finishes Covid evidence

Boris Johnson has lashed out at some of the “absolutely absurd” characterisations of the partygate debacle as he completed two days of at-times combative and emotional evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry.The former prime minister insisted on Thursday he was not “reconciled” to Covid deaths or believed it necessary to “let it rip” in the autumn of 2020.On the final day of his highly-anticipated appearance, he said he was “perplexed” at claims from top scientists that ministers failed to consult them on Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Much of the questioning on Thursday focused on the sequence of decision-making leading to the second national lockdown and later restrictions, while also touching on revelations of rule-breaking inside Number 10.Mr Johnson appeared to become emotional during some of the discussions as he rejected suggestions he did not care about the suffering of the public and discussed his own admittance to intensive care.

It came as inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC pressed Mr Johnson about the lockdown-breaching parties that were held in Downing Street and the impact on public confidence.In one WhatsApp message, dated December 17 2021, Mr Johnson told Cabinet Secretary Simon Case that “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.”The former prime minister told the inquiry: “When I went into intensive care, I saw around me a lot of people who were not actually elderly.