Why Covid inquiry's savage criticism of Boris Johnson is a warning to us all

According to a public inquiry report, Johnson presided over a “toxic and chaotic culture” at the heart of government “in which the loudest voices prevailed and the views of other colleagues, particularly women, often went ignored, to the detriment of good decision-making”.

Johnson’s special adviser, Dominic Cummings, used "offensive, sexualised and misogynistic" language that “poisoned" the atmosphere in Downing Street. Johnson not only failed to tackle this behaviour, he at times actively encouraged it.

‘No real strategy’

The failure to introduce social distancing and voluntary restrictions earlier made a strict lockdown inevitable, the report concluded. But even that was delayed. A lockdown just a week earlier would have saved an estimated 23,000 lives in England alone.

In contrast to Johnson, Baroness Heather Hallett's report described Nicola Sturgeon as a “serious and diligent leader”. However, Scotland’s then First Minister also came in for serious criticism.

In the crucial period between January and March 2020, it appeared the Scottish Government had “no real strategy other than monitoring the situation”. The failure to prepare was described as “inexplicable”.

Sturgeon’s idea of “eliminating” Covid in Scotland was “inappropriate and destined to fail”, and ministers and advisers were “often excluded from decision-making” in favour of Sturgeon’s inner circle – which included John Swinney.

Constant tension

The devolved administrations were “too dependent on the UK Government response” but, despite this, the relationship between Edinburgh and London was “poor” with “constant tension and a degree of lack of trust”. Both Sturgeon and Johnson “did nothing to improve it”.

In a line that should haunt both leaders, Baroness Hallett said: “In any future pandemic, political antipathies or discord need to be set aside to better address the exigencies of the emergency.”

There are many lessons to be learned from the pandemic. One of the most important is political: the calibre of the people we elect really matters. When the next great crisis strikes, as it will eventually, we better hope a truly serious person is in charge.