Johnson apologises to victims – as four people removed from room
Moments after being sworn in, Boris Johnson begins speaking and tells the inquiry he is “glad”.
He starts to say “how sorry I am for the pain and the loss” – before he is interrupted by the inquiry chair.
“Please sit down,” she tells others in the room. “Please sit down or I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”
Four people are then escorted out.
Mr Johnson carries on: “I understand the feelings of the victims and their families and I am deeply sorry for the loss of the victims and their families.”
He is heckled further as he talks.
One protester holds up a poster reading “The dead can’t hear your apologies”.
The former prime minister says he is “grateful” for the healthcare workers and public servants who helped to protect the country during the pandemic.
He adds he hopes the inquiry is able to “get answers to those very difficult questions” being asked by victims and their families.
Lead counsel Hugo Keith KC then asks Mr Johnson to confirm he believes COVID sufferers and bereaved families are “entitled to full and rigorous scrutiny” of him.
“Of course,” he says.
COVID bereaved families upset over being unable to sit in hearing room
Some of the families outside the inquiry have been told there isn’t enough space for them in the hearing room today.
One of our reporters there said they appeared “visibly upset” by this.
A short while ago, members of bereaved families’ groups said Boris Johnson’s expected claim that he saved thousands of lives during the pandemic would be a “grotesque distortion of the truth”.
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