Yesterday, Boris Johnson’s absurd claims fell apart under the slightest scrutiny from lawyers representing bereaved families. Faced by the hard fact that the UK suffered the 2nd worst death toll in Western Europe, Johnson’s claims that the UK ‘was in the middle of the pack’, and that he ‘got the big calls right’ rung hollow and  exposed how uninterested he is in learning lessons so that mistakes are not repeated. 

Following a day of disappointing questioning from the Inquiry, our lawyers struck at the heart of what matters to those of us who lost loved ones, and anyone who cares about their safety in the next pandemic. 

When he knew measures needed to be taken to protect lives, he dithered, delayed and ignored scientific advice to pander to the press. He failed to take the pandemic seriously in early 2020 leaving us brutally unprepared, and failed to learn from his mistakes meaning that the second wave had an even higher death toll than the first. His vanity meant that the UK had to go through longer, tougher lockdowns that tanked the economy and were less effective at stopping the virus than they would have been if he acted earlier. 

We won’t let Johnson and his government rewrite history. He failed to protect lives in the pandemic, and he failed to protect the economy, and without learning from what went wrong governments will get away with doing the same again. Our questioning has left the Inquiry in doubt as to how poorly we were served by Johnson when we needed strong and empathetic leadership the most. With Covid 19 Bereaved Families right at the heart of the Inquiry, it will learn lessons that will save lives in future pandemics. We need your support to make sure this happens. 

Please donate to our crowdfunder to help us campaign to make sure lawyers representing bereaved families are able to put the questions that matter to us, and to you, to politicians: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/covid-bereaved-must-be-heard-at-the-covid-inquiry

Please also share this video, in which we hold Johnson to account in the Inquiry: https://twitter.com/CovidJusticeUK/status/1732793853470511580

We won’t let his lies go unchallenged. Lives depend on it.  

With thanks for your support, 

Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK