Will no one think about poor Boris? Former PM smirks and sighs through Covid inquiry | John Crace

"Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven. Just not if you happened to be a schoolkid during the pandemic. Then you were being asked to make the biggest sacrifices to protect elderly people, even though you were the least at risk. Still, I suppose there was a lesson in there somewhere. Almost everyone who comes into contact however indirectly with Boris Johnson generally finds they have been done over at some point."

"The Covid inquiry has now moved on to its children and young people module and on Tuesday Johnson was back to give evidence. And, as ever, he looked as if he really did not give a shit. The hair was its trademark mess. His face unshaven. The smirk. Always the smirk. At times he looked almost bored. At others, irritated that people were asking him so many questions."

Young people bore significant sacrifices during the pandemic, asked to protect elderly people despite being the least at risk. School closures lacked Department for Education preparations, because of assertions that schools would remain open. Boris Johnson presented a dishevelled, unshaven appearance and a persistent smirk while giving evidence. He portrayed himself as struggling to recall details, framing the decisions as bad luck and claiming he never wanted to make them. He suggested others, including Gavin Williamson, might misremember events and implied competing accounts exist. The inquiry questioned who should be believed given competing and unreliable recollections from key figures.

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