Boris Johnson ‘bamboozled’ by science and ‘looked broken’ as he questioned Covid response, says Sir Patrick Vallance

20 November 2023, 13:30

Sir Patrick Vallance said Boris Johnson appeared 'bamboozled' by some of the science during the pandemic
Sir Patrick Vallance said Boris Johnson appeared 'bamboozled' by some of the science during the pandemic. Picture: Alamy

By Asher McShane

Boris Johnson was 'bamboozled' by Covid science and at times 'looked broken' when dealing with the response to the pandemic, the inquiry heard today.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser during the pandemic, has been giving evidence to the UK-Covid 19 Inquiry.

The inquiry heard excerpt’s from Sir Patrick’s diary, including one occasion during a meeting about schools where the then PM was “clearly bamboozled” but scientific evidence.

The entry from May 2020 reads: "Late afternoon meeting with PM on schools. My God this is complicated and models will not provide the answer. PM is clearly bamboozled".

In a further extract, in September 2020, Sir Patrick describes Mr Johnson’s behaviour after he returned from a Battle of Britain memorial service.

Vallance's diary reads: "[PM] starts challenging numbers and questioning whether they really translate into deaths."

Mr Johnson "looked broken - head in hands a lot", and quotes the PM saying "We are too shit to get our act together".

Diary entries written during the pandemic were a way to ‘maintain inner calm’ and ‘decompress at the end of the day’, Sir Patrick Vallance told the inquiry.

In his opening witness statement on Monday, Sir Patrick told the inquiry that his diary entries were a way to “maintain some form of inner calm, protect my mental health and keep my family out of the pressures I faced”.

Sir Patrick has prepared a 200-page witness statement for Monday’s hearing.

Questioned by Andrew O’Connor KC, the former scientific adviser said he had “no intention” of ever publishing the entries.

“These were a way of decompressing at the end of the day,” he told the inquiry. “Often quite late in the evening”.

The notes were provided to the inquiry after a disclosure request - Sir Patrick provided the entries in full despite them containing “sensitive, personal” information.

“Some of it I look back and think 'well that seems like a sensible series of reflections over that period,” he continued. But some, however, he said contradict each other.

“Others I look back and I can see I might have written something one day and then two days later written something that said, 'actually I don't agree with myself on that', which may have been how somebody had behaved or somebody made an observation.

Read more: Lockdown rules were confusing and £10,000 fines disproportionate, Priti Patel tells Covid Inquiry

Read more: Boris Johnson was told to sack Matt Hancock to 'save lives and protect the NHS', Covid Inquiry hears

Sir Patrick Vallance's pandemic diary entries will be read out at the inquiry on Monday.
Sir Patrick Vallance's pandemic diary entries will be read out at the inquiry on Monday. Picture: Alamy

"So they were very much instant thoughts."

Some 25 extracts have been read out to the inquiry so far.

Among them, Sir Patrick accuses officials of “cherry picking’ scientific advice and ministers of using scientists as “human shields”.

He also criticises Boris Johnson’s decision-making, branding him “all over the place” and criticising his “ridiculous flip-flopping”.

"The right wing press are culpable and we have a weak, indecisive PM," he wrote in October 2020.

Mr O’Connor asked Sir Patrick if he thinks his former role should be held by someone with a medical background, given the inevitability of another pandemic.

Sir Patrick said the role is not “set up primarily for pandemic preparedness, it is set up to provide science advise across Government”.

“The great crisis that all Governments face for the next many decades is the climate challenge, so it would be equally well-argued that you could have somebody who has that expertise,” he added.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Ivan Toney during an England match.

'This is why I hate London,' fumes Ivan Toney as England star's car broken into during summer break

Exclusive
Exclusive: Government gagged media over MoD leak that endangered 100,000 Afghan allies

Government used unprecedented superinjunction to cover up MoD data breach that put 100,000 Afghans at risk

Breaking
A drought has been declared in the West and East Midlands. Birmingham's inner-city Edgbaston  reservoir is very low

Drought declared in the West and East Midlands - as millions of households already under hosepipe bans

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Mark Rutte, NATO's secretary general, at the White House

Trump announces weapons for Ukraine after he allegedly asked Zelenskyy whether they can hit Moscow

A rest centre has been set up for residents forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.

Thousands of homes across south London left without water after burst pipe sparks 'signifiant flooding'

Oasis Live '25 Tour - Opening Night

The number one singles Oasis do not play

A British OAP has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis into Spain.

Brit, 69, arrested for 'smuggling 62kg of cannabis worth £350k' into Spain

John Iwuh

'Predator' jailed for raping woman he met on dating app had 11,000 phone contacts - as victims urged to come forward

On the left Constance has her hands in prayer with rainbow lights behind her. On the right is her police mugshot.

How killer aristocrat Constance Marten’s gilded life unravelled - and how she made friends behind bars

A 19-year-old worker sucked into an industrial meat grinder at Tina’s Burritos has died.

Teen sucked into meat grinder at California burrito factory dies as horrified colleagues watch on

Dr McCarthy stopped paying council tax in April 2022.

Woman who refused to pay council tax for three years in protest at fossil fuel investments fears losing her home

Disney Dream is a cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line, part of The Walt Disney Company. Aerial view

Police reveal how girl, aged 5, fell overboard from Disney cruise ship before father saved her

Rachel Reeves

Reeves hails ‘instant impact’ for aspiring homeowners as red tape is cut

Courtney, in her Union flag dress and hat, and her dad Stuart

Schoolgirl, 12, 'punished' for wearing Union flag dress to school culture day

British backpacker Alicia Kemp is accused of causing the death of a dad in a horror crash

British backpacker accused of killing Australian father in drunken e-scooter crash

Former health minister Lord Darzi was robbed of his £175,000 watch

Lord Darzi robbed of £175,000 Richard Mille watch on Capri holiday