"Bamboozled" Boris Johnson Struggled To Retain Covid Info, Inquiry Told

Another notebook entry from Vallance described Johnson as "distressed" at seeing attendees in face masks and socially distanced at a Battle of Britain memorial service in September that year.

Boris Johnson was "bamboozled" by data during the Covid-19 pandemic, a public inquiry into his government's response to the global health crisis heard on Monday.

Former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance said Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, sometimes struggled to retain scientific information.

In one entry from May 4, 2020, recalling a meeting with Johnson about schools, Vallance wrote: "My God, this is complicated. Models will not provide the answer. PM is clearly bamboozled."