Boris Johnson ‘rather sad’ his evidence to Covid inquiry is over

Boris Johnson said he is “rather sad” his evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry is over, adding that it is “very, very important” to get the answers to how the virus originated.

Speaking at the end of giving two days of evidence, the former prime minister said valuable testimony had been given to the inquiry, and that he hoped it would help to bring the issues of health and social care together.

Baroness Heather Hallett, chairwoman of the inquiry, thanked Mr Johnson for his evidence, saying: “Thank you very much indeed Mr Johnson, I know how difficult it must be to have two days giving evidence.”

Mr Johnson replied: “No. I am rather sad that it’s over.

“I may not see you again, so I just wanted to say one thing, which is that I do think all the testimony and the evidence is incredibly valuable.”

I know it's outside your scope, but I do think that the British public and future governments will need to be elucidated about exactly how this thing originated

He added: “The issues of health and social care are absolutely critical, and the government that I led was embarked on a big programme to try and bring them together.

“I think the fact that we had those delayed discharge patients was very, very difficult in the NHS.

“I hope that this inquiry will give a kick to the powers that be to make sure that we really address that.”

Making a “final point”, Mr Johnson concluded: “I know it’s outside your scope, but I do think that the British public and future governments will need to be elucidated about exactly how this thing originated.

“I don’t think the inquiry can look into it yourselves, but some sort of prod to the world to get the answer to the real origins of Covid, I think is going to be very, very important.”