Key points: Boris Johnson's evidence to Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson's highly anticipated two-day hearing before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has begun. He apologised for "the pain and the loss and the suffering" caused by the pandemic but defended his government's handling of the crisis.

Here are the key points from today's evidence: An apology backfires with protesters In opening remarks to the inquiry, Mr Johnson said he was sorry for the loss and the pain suffered by Covid victims but four people were removed from the hearing room after they held up signs reading: "The Dead can't hear your apologies." Mr Johnson accepts personal responsibility for all decisions The former British prime minister acknowledged that mistakes were "unquestionably" made by his administration in its response to the pandemic, and said he took full responsibility for all the choices made. He 'should have twigged sooner' Mr Johnson admitted ministers "should have twigged much sooner" that there was a need for action but argued Whitehall more broadly had underestimated the scale of the challenge. The former PM defends his No 10 from 'toxic culture' claims The ex-PM admitted that his top team was male-dominated but played down claims of a dysfunctional work environment, suggesting that complacency and a lack of scrutiny would have been worse than some of the strongly worded criticism unveiled in WhatsApps shared between key figures. PM only read Sage minutes 'once or twice' Mr Johnson said he may have only read the minutes of hundreds of meetings held by the committee of scientists advising the British government on Covid "once or twice".

He said he was provided with "summaries" but in hindsight hearing the full discussion might have been valuable. He denies taking a 'long holiday' in early stages of