Boris Johnson Covid Inquiry live: ex-Prime Minister gives evidence on coronavirus pandemic - latest updates

Boris Johnson has started giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry, and the former Prime Minister began by saying he was "deeply sorry" to families who had lost loved ones.

Johnson started his statement from 10am, and in two days of evidence is likely to argue he got the big calls right. The appearance has already been caught in scandal as Johnson was unable to provide the probe with any of his WhatsApp messages from February to June 2020 - the period of the first lockdown. He denied he deleted the messages and said it was a technical error.

The former Prime Minister defended Downing Street's "toxic culture" with abuse towards ministers and civil servants flying around WhatsApp groups. Johnson said: "It would not have been right to have a load of WhatsApps saying ‘aren’t we doing brilliantly folks’ - your criticisms might have been even more pungent."

Follow the latest updates from Health Editor David George and Politics Editor Ralph Blackburn on our live blog below, and watch Boris Johnson's statement on our live stream.