Boris Johnson will face his moment of reckoning at the Covid Inquiry where he'll be made to account for chaos and dithering at the top of Government during the pandemic.
The former Prime Minister will give evidence under oath over two gruelling days on his leadership during the crisis after damning testimony from aides, politicians and scientists about the toxic atmosphere in Downing Street. Mr Johnson will be confronted over claims he ranted he'd rather "let the bodies pile high" than impose another lockdown - and whether his dithering cost lives as the second wave of Covid gathered speed.
He is also likely to be grilled on whether he was too slow to act at the start of the pandemic as he was on holiday at his grace and favour mansion working on a book on Shakespeare. Claims he was "bamboozled by the science" could also be tested by the Inquiry's top lawyers, along with allegations from his close aide turned nemesis Dominic Cummings that he asked scientists if people could kill Covid by blowing a hairdryer up their nose.
The culture in No10 on his watch will also go under the microscope after the Inquiry heard claims it became "toxic" and "dysfunctional", with the PM and his aides acting like they were "basically feral". Mr Johnson will likely be asked if he regrets allowing this culture to develop, leading to the scandal of lockdown-busting parties first exposed by the Mirror.
Bereaved families are expected to line the streets outside the Inquiry's west London headquarters, holding up pictures of the loved ones they lost to the virus as they demand answers from Mr Johnson.
Follow all the latest developments in our liveblog below
Boris Johnson's WhatsApp messages still missing
Boris Johnson has denied deleting WhatsApp messages after it emerged that the former prime minister has not been able to provide the Covid-19 inquiry with any communications from February to June 2020.
The Times reported that Mr Johnson has told Lady Hallet's probe that technical experts have not been able to retrieve WhatsApp messages between January 31 and June 7 - a time period spanning the early days of the pandemic and most of the first lockdown.
Technical experts had been trying to recover messages from his old mobile phone in order to hand them over to the inquiry. Mr Johnson was originally told to stop using the device over security concerns after it emerged his number had been online for years. He then reportedly forgot the passcode. But it had been reported that technical experts had succeeded in helping Mr Johnson recover the messages for the inquiry.
A spokesman for the former prime minister said: "Boris Johnson has fully cooperated with the Inquiry's disclosure process and has submitted hundreds of pages of material. He has not deleted any messages. The Times report refers to a technical issue in recovery of material that is for the technical team to address."
Mr Johnson was advised to stop using the phone and not access it again on security grounds while serving as prime minister in May 2021. It had emerged his number had been freely available online for 15 years.
Boris Johnson asked scientists if you could kill Covid by blowing hairdryer up nose
One alarming claim raised during evidence to the Covid Inquiry was that Boris Johnson asked scientists if people could kill Covid by blowing a hairdryer up their nose - after he watched a YouTube video suggesting this.
The then-PM shared the clip on a WhatsApp group including Government health experts and senior No10 officials. In a written statement to the Covid Inquiry, Dominic Cummings accused Mr Johnson of spreading misinformation during the pandemic.
“A low point was when he circulated a video of a guy blowing a special hair dryer up his nose ‘to kill Covid’ and asked the CSA (Chief Scientific Adviser) and CMO (Chief Medical Officer) what they thought,” the former No10 adviser wrote.
Perhaps the Inquiry Counsel Hugo Keith KC will ask the former PM about the incident.
'Many, many' lives lost as lockdown was three weeks late
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock endured a two-day grilling at the Covid Inquiry last week where he faced questions on deaths in care homes and the crucial decisions to impose lockdowns.
Quizzed under oath the former Health Secretary admitted his infamous claim to have thrown a "protective ring" around care homes was wrong and insisted he pushed for an early lockdown.
He claimed that "many, many lives" would have been saved if Boris Johnson had ordered the first nationwide lockdown at the beginning of March 2020.
His rule-breaking affair with his former aide, which led to his resignation, also came under the spotlight as he admitted it had a damaging impact on public confidence during the crisis.
Boris Johnson slips into Inquiry centre at crack of dawn
The former PM Boris Johnson has already arrived at the Covid Inquiry - three hours before his grilling kicks off at 10am.
Families of the Covid bereaved had been expecting to line up outside the Inquiry centre holding pictures of their loved ones as he arrived. They are also expected to hold a press conference in the hour before the ex-PM begins giving evidence under oath.
Policing minister Chris Philp joked on Sky News: "Goodness me. It is the first time Boris has ever been early for anything." He said the Inquiry should be about "dispassionately and forensically understanding what lessons can be learnt" but that he was "sure there are things we could have done better".
Covid families ask Boris Johnson: 'Who are you to say our loved ones had a good innings?'
Families who lost loved ones during the pandemic are demanding Boris Johnson this week take responsibility for his mistakes.
Sioux Vosper, 58, who lost her dad to Covid, said she wanted Mr Johnson to answer: “Who are you to decide my father has had a good innings?” Ms Vosper, who lives in Fulham, was unable to visit her father John, 80, when he was admitted to hospital near to his home in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He died 18 days later in April 2020.
She said: “How dare he suggest the bodies pile high. I want him to own up to his mistakes and take responsibility for his lack of action in every wave. We made the same mistakes three times. “He should not have gone away on holiday February half term as it was a critical time in pandemic preparedness.”
10 tricky questions Boris Johnson must answer as he faces Covid Inquiry grilling
Boris Johnson's interrogation at the Covid Inquiry will take place over two days
He'll face questions including why he didn’t learn lessons after locking down late. Matt Hancock last week admitted that “many, many lives” were lost because the first national lockdown was imposed three weeks later than it should have been. “The facts show that delaying a lockdown leads to a worse lockdown - with worse health and economic outcomes,” he wrote in his witness statement.
Despite the mistakes made in March 2020, the Government was slow to introduce both the second and third national lockdowns, which came in November 2020 and January 2021.
He'll also be questioned on why he went on a 10 day holiday in February 2020 as Covid hit Britain. In his witness statement, Dominic Cummings wrote: “He said he wanted to work on his Shakespeare book.”
Boris Johnson to deny saying 'let the bodies pile high'
Boris Johnson will deny he said he was willing to “let the bodies pile high” as he appears at the Covid Inquiry tomorrow.
The former PM faces a difficult two-day grilling on Wednesday and Thursday over his leadership of the country during the pandemic. He previously denied to Parliament that he had made the horrifying remark, but his former chief-of-staff Lord Lister last month told the inquiry that he heard Mr Johnson say it during a meeting in September 2020.
As he appears under oath, Mr Johnson will maintain that he did not use the phrase and argue there are no emails, WhatsApps or messages from the time to show that he did. Although it is unclear how he will explain the testimony of his long-term pal Lord Lister.
The former PM will also be questioned about bombshell diary entries written by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who said he was "obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going”.