The Covid Inquiry has forced Johnson to confront his 'personal horror'

"The responsibility for all the decisions made were his, the former prime minister began, apologising for the things he got wrong. Closing schools for him was a "personal horror" and a "nightmare idea". "I thought it would have done a lot of damage to people to the life chances of people," he said. But it seemed like the only option at the time."

"Many of the questions he was asked on Tuesday were on the planning that went into the shutting of schools. Over the last few weeks, the inquiry has heard plenty of criticism of the fact that the plan to close schools was not pulled together until the night before it was announced in March 2020. It's been called "an extraordinary dereliction of duty". The former children's commissioner described chaotic scenes around that decision-making in her own evidence to the inquiry."

Boris Johnson attended the Covid Inquiry to answer questions about decisions affecting children, focusing on school closures. He accepted responsibility and apologized, calling the closures a "personal horror" and a "nightmare idea," and said he feared damage to life chances although closures seemed the only option at the time. The plan to close schools was not prepared until the night before the March 2020 announcement and has been described as an extraordinary dereliction of duty. The former children's commissioner described chaotic decision-making. Planning failures affected attendance rules, vulnerable classifications, free school meals and remote learning. Johnson said he expected the Department for Education to have anticipated closure possibilities and was "surprising" no plan existed.

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