Boris Johnson’s lack of leadership over the seriousness of Covid led to the first lockdown being introduced too late, which contributed to the loss of 23,000 lives, the official inquiry into his handling of the pandemic has concluded.

A scathing report by inquiry chair Baroness Hallett also criticises the Department of Health, led by the current Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald and the then minister Matt Hancock, for “misleading” Downing Street that the UK was well-prepared for a pandemic.

“Acts and omissions” by Johnson, the leaders of the three devolved administrations, and the UK’s scientific advisers Sir Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, meant that self-isolation and household quarantine “advisory” restrictions announced on 16 March were a week too late. This meant that the

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