Covid inquiry: Boris Johnson ‘to admit he made mistakes’
GuardianNOV 2023
The Spin
Left narrative
The disgraced former Prime Minister was as wishy-washy during this hearing as he was in office. He failed to protect his nation from COVID because, unlike even the most controversial Prime Ministers of the past, Johnson had no vision for the country other than putting himself in charge of it. His indifference to governing style and policy resulted in his countless fatal failures — ranging from his absence from cabinet meetings in February 2020 to the continual indecisiveness on every policy until he left office.
Right narrative
Johnson's liberal critics are not wrong about his willingness to flip-flop on policy — what they don't inform you, however, is that the direction he flip-flopped was consistently moving in favor of their failed lockdown policies. After Johnson rightly rejected calls for lockdowns in early 2020, the backlash from critics scared him into a 180-degree turn, thus imposing the strictest lockdowns possible. All this inquiry cares about is ensuring the country's future pandemic responses are draconian, so they'll drag Johnson through the mud until the public agrees with them.