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The official records have raised questions over whether the former prime minister may have misled the Covid inquiry
David MaddoxPolitical EditorSunday 23 November 2025 13:38 GMTComments
CloseBoris Johnson was responsible for my mother's death, says Covid bereaved daughter
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Official files have revealed that Boris Johnson took four days off during a crucial period in the run up to locking down the UK when the Covid pandemic struck.
The revelation has come after the group campaigning for families of the Covid bereaved described the former prime minister as being “beyond contempt” for his attack on the damning report produced by the inquiry into his government’s handling of the pandemic.
Mr Johnson has refused to apologise for an estimated 23,000 extra deaths the inquiry stated he caused by delaying lockdown for a week.
Instead he used his column in a national newspaper to lambast the inquiry’s chair Baroness Heather Hallett and argue that Professor Neil Ferguson, whose estimates the figure was based on, was “hysterical”.
open image in galleryBaroness Heather Hallett found Boris Johnson failed to exercise ‘proper leadership’ during the pandemic (Lucy North/PA) (PA Wire)Official disclosure for February 2020, described by the inquiry report as a “lost month” in preparing to respond to the pandemic, shows that Mr Johnson took an extended break during the half-term holidays at Chevening, a governmental estate in Kent.
The former prime minister was questioned by the inquiry on what he had been doing between 14 and 24 February 2020 when he gave evidence in December 2023.
At the time he said: “There wasn’t a long holiday that I took. I was working throughout the period and the tempo did increase.”
But official activity logs appear to suggest evidence that Mr Johnson gave under oath may have been wrong.
The controversy has echoes of the parliamentary inquiry into his responses in the House on Partygate where he was found to have misled the Commons.
The official files suggest that Mr Johnson did no official government business on 15, 16, 17 and 21 February.
Instead, it suggests that he spent time walking his dog Dilyn in Chevening, riding a motorbike given to him by his wife Carrie, and hosting friends and family for lunches, dinners and overnight stays.
open image in galleryMr Johnson is facing ongoing criticism over his handling of the pandemic (PA)The Independent has approached Mr Johnson for comment.
The latest revelation comes as the group representing families of the Covid bereaved wants to ensure that Mr Johnson no longer plays any part in public life.
They have also suggested possible legal action against the former prime minister, possibly a private prosecution.
A spokesperson for the group said that this was “further evidence that he [Johnson] wasn’t taking Covid seriously, that he was ignoring the warnings he was getting and putting himself ahead of the country at that time. It vindicates further the report that came out on Thursday. It sounds like he has questions to answer about how truthful he was in front of the inquiry.”
They told The Independent: “It is beyond contempt that Boris Johnson has chosen to respond to the Covid Inquiry by attacking the Covid Bereaved for "wrangling" about the deaths of our loved one.
“Instead of showing regret, contrition or even apologising, Johnson is using a newspaper column to do what he couldn't do under oath at the Covid Inquiry - twist the truth, promote debunked myths and ignore the facts.
“But the truth, which Mr Johnson has never had a close relationship with, is now clear. He was responsible for thousands of avoidable deaths. The one promise he delivered on was to "let the bodies pile high". He has no place in public life and we are calling again for Boris Johnson to lose all of his ex-PM privileges following the inquiry report.”
Their response came after an astonishing rant by the former PM in his weekly column.
Mr Johnson blasted: “Some judge has just spent the thick end of £200m on an inquiry, and what is the upshot?
“She seems, if anything, to want more lockdowns. She seems to have laid into the previous Tory government for not locking down hard enough or fast enough – just when the rest of the world has been thinking that lockdowns were probably wildly overdone.”
He went on: “Bozhe moi, you say, wiping away tears of laughter. My goodness, these Britskis!”
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