Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson admits to making mistakes but defends COVID record at inquiry

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acknowledged that his government was too slow to grasp the scale of the COVID-19 crisis. But he defended his handling of the pandemic and skirted questions about whether any of his decisions had contributed to the country’s high coronavirus death toll. Johnson was grilled Wednesday under oath by lawyers at a public inquiry into Britain’s handling of the pandemic. Johnson opened his testimony with an apology “for the pain and the loss and the suffering of the COVID victims.” He said the government “underestimated the scale and the pace of the challenge.” Former colleagues, aides and advisers have painted an unflattering picture of him over weeks of testimony.