Ten times Boris Johnson was cornered by Hugo Keith at the Covid inquiry

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson appeared before the Covid inquiry on Wednesday morning for the first of two days of questioning about his leadership of the country through the pandemic from 2020 to 2022.

Mr Johnson’s evidence had hardly begun when four protesters had to be ejected from the hearing room, saying his apologies for the mistakes of his administration were insufficient and had led to the loss of lives.

The former PM insisted he had done his “level best” to respond to the needs of the nation but that errors were inevitable due to the constantly evolving nature of the threat posed by the respiratory virus.

Mr Johnson faced tough questions on the stand and sometimes struggled to give credible answers under pressure from the inquiry’s counsel Hugo Keith KC.

Here are 10 points on which he found himself on a sticky wicket during Wednesday’s evidence.

Insists on commitment to transparency

Asked what his approach had been to the disclosure of