Boris Johnson was bamboozled by the pandemic, Patrick Vallance reveals

Boris Johnson said humans could be “licked as a species” and were “too s*** to get our act together” during the pandemic, the chief scientific adviser said, Archie Mitchell reports.

In his diaries, Sir Patrick Vallance said that in September 2020 the former PM was “distressed” at the spectre of people wearing masks at the Battle of Britain memorial service.

His diaries recall Mr Johnson saying it was “mad and spooky” and “we’ve got to end it”.

After questioning the number of Covid cases and “whether they really translate into deaths”, Sir Patrick’s diaries reveal Mr Johnson said: “Is it because of the great libertarian nation we are that it spreads so much?

“Maybe we are licked as a species… we are too s*** to get our act together.”

Boris Johnson stunned a meeting of advisers by claiming the Covid pandemic would spread the same “despite what you do”, Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries claim, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former chief scientific adviser said there was “incredulity in the room” after Mr Johnson made the claim.

The former prime minister said: “Is the whole thing a mirage? The curves just follow a natural pattern despite what you do.”

Sir Patrick recalled that Mr Johnson did “not look like a man enjoying his role”.

Boris Johnson was “bamboozled” by scientific advice during the pandemic, repeatedly forgetting things he had been told just hours earlier, Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries reveal, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former chief scientific adviser wrote comments about the PM during the pandemic such as “watching him get his head around stats is awful”.

He also said: “Late afternoon meeting with PM on schools. My God this is complicated and models will not provide the answer. PM is clearly bamboozled.”

At another meeting, Sir Patrick said Mr Johnson asked Clare Gardiner from the Joint Biosecurity Centre “which line is the dark red one”. “Is he colour blind,” Sir Patrick wrote.

The government’s suggestion it was “slavishly following the science” and “obeying it at all times” during the pandemic was damaging, Sir Patrick Vallance has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former chief scientific adviser said it “pretty quickly” became interpreted as though ministers’ decisions were being led entirely by science.

“Initially, I thought, good, they’re listening to us and they want to hear the science that is the right thing for them to do,” he told the Covid inquiry.

“There is no such thing as ‘the’ science,” Sir Patrick said, adding that the suggestion behind the phrase was “completely wrong”.

Sir Patrick Vallance has said Britain “lost control” of the pandemic in the February 2020 half term, with a “huge influx from Spain, France and Italy”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The country’s test, trace and isolate system would have “only worked at low levels of prevalence and high capacity in the system”, the former chief scientific adviser said.

“With everything that we had in place or didn’t have in place at the time, I’m afraid that of the sort of ultimate options, trying to lock things down probably was the only route open at that time,” he told the Covid inquiry.

Boris Johnson’s gut was telling him “this will be fine” in the early days of the Covid pandemic, Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries revealed, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former chief scientific adviser recalled a January 2020 meeting in which he said chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty also said he “thought [Covid] would be contained”.

Sir Patrick Vallance thought Sir Chris Whitty was a lockdown “delayer” in the early days of the pandemic’s spread, his diaries reveal, Archie Mitchell reports.

The ex-chief scientific adviser said the chief medical officer was “concerned about the adverse effects” of measures such as lockdown.

He told the inquiry: “[Chris Whitty] was concerned that there would be more than just the issue of the direct cause of death from the virus, that there would be indirect causes of death due to effects on the NHS, that there would be indirect harms due to people isolating, mental health, loneliness, issues of health that come from that procedure, and that there will be indirect long term consequences due to the economic impact creating poverty, which is a major driver of health.”

Sir Patrick’s diary from February 2021 said that, when wondering whether lockdown was implemented too late, “[Chris Whitty] was a delayer of course”.

“We should have gone earlier,” Sir Patrick told the inquiry.

Sir Patrick Vallance has said a number of deaths ministers considered acceptable would have been “helpful” in the early days of the pandemic, Archie Mitchell reports.

The former chief scientific adviser told the Covid-19 inquiry said it is a “difficult question” to answer, but it would have been “rather helpful” to have.

“We asked several times to try and define a number and nobody would give that number,” he said.

Sir Patrick said instead that the target was simply to avoid the NHS being overwhelmed while the government did not want to “impose over burdensome restrictions on liberty”.

Sir Patrick Vallance has said he had no intention of using the notes he kept during the Covid pandemic for a book or memoir.

He handed over his notes, at the request of the inquiry, despite them containing personal thoughts and reflections.

“I had no intention whatsoever of these ever seeing the light of day”, he said.

Sir Patrick added that he thought “the world had had enough of books of reflections of the people’s thoughts during Covid”.

He described his diaries as a “brain dump” of his “private thoughts” at the end of each day.

Our associate editor Sean O’Grady writes:

After a slow start, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, also known as the Hallett inquiry after its chair, Baroness Heather Hallett, has been producing some sensational content, as we say these days.

The witness statements from, and cross-examination of, Dominic Cummings and Helen MacNamara have grabbed the headlines and damaged the reputations of many of the players in this “drama” – not least Boris Johnson.

The constant flow of revelations has also been – especially for the Conservatives – an unwelcome reminder of their failings in office during this transcendent crisis. While many voters will have long ago made their minds up about the party and its leadership, the inquiry – which would have only been getting into its stride had the general election been held as expected in the summer of 2023 – will intrude into the world of politics next year and beyond…

You can read his full analysis on the inquiry’s fallout here with Independent Premium: