Johnson could face legal action over Covid failures

Boris Johnson could face legal action over the failures during the pandemic that led to 23,000 excess deaths – as families who lost loved ones to Covid call for him to be barred from public life.

- DAVID MADDOX POLITICAL EDITOR

After the Covid inquiry found that thousands of lives could have been spared if the country had locked down a week earlier and that the culture at the heart of No 10 contributed to the government's pandemic failings, the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group said the former prime minister “must be held accountable”.

Meanwhile, senior Tories have refused to acknowledge some of the report’s findings, with Michael Gove - who was a cabinet minister throughout the pandemic - warning against “oversimplifying” the conclusions while former health minister Nadine Dorries described it as “sensationalist”.

Mr Johnson has so far refused to comment on the report since it was published on Thursday, despite strong criticism of his leadership during the pandemic.

Bereaved families described the former prime minister’s silence as “deafening”, adding: “We are not asking for an apology; we are asking for consequences. Boris Johnson should have no role in public life and no further entitlement to public funds.

“His actions during the pandemic amount to one of the gravest betrayals of the British public in modern history. We will therefore now be pursuing all legal options to hold Boris Johnson personally responsible for his actions during the pandemic. Justice for those we lost means real consequences for those who failed them, and we will not stop until that justice is delivered.”