Boris Johnson was like 'absent football manager' during Covid, inquiry hears

Boris Johnson was compared to an 'absent' football manager during the Covid-19 pandemic, a public inquiry has heard.

Speaking at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday, Mark Drakeford, Wales' outgoing First Minister, criticised Boris Johnson's leadership hit out at Mr Johnson's lack of presence in meetings with the devolved nations during the health crisis.

In a written statement Mr Drakeford described Michael Gove, who was the minister for the Cabinet Office during the early part of the pandemic, as "a centre forward without a team lined up behind him, and where the manager was largely absent".

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While speaking to the inquiry, Mr Drakeford stated that he was talking about Boris Johnson.

Mr Drakeford said: "The absent manager was the prime minister because he was never in these meetings or at the table."

Although he appreciates what Mr Gove did, he felt his contribution was more influential than decisive. Mr Johnson would have had a bigger impact at those meetings.

Earlier hearings heard that Mr Johnson decided not to meet with the heads of the devolved nations purposefully. His aim was to avoid appearing as though the UK was becoming federalised or like a smaller version of the EU.

Mr Drakeford ended his statement by saying: "I wrote regularly to the prime minister asking for a predictable series of meetings between the heads of the four nations.

"It had never occurred to me until I read that the prime minister had turned those requests down, not on political grounds, which I could understand these are busy times and he is a busy man but as a matter of policy he had decided not to meet and that did seem to me to be an extraordinary decision."