Boris Johnson referred to the Government’s facemask policy in the summer of 2020 as “f***** up”, the Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.
The former Prime Minister made the remark in a WhatsApp message to his chief advisor Dominic Cummings in August 2020.
He wrote: “I am on a train trying to make sense of our totally f***** up facemask policy.”
Elsewhere, Mr Johnson told the inquiry that Dominic Cummings' trip to Barnard Castle in March 2020 was a "bad moment".
The former Prime Minister said he would "not pretend" that he backed his chief advisor's decision to travel up north, in contravention of lockdown rules at the time.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson complained of “absolutely absurd” characterisations of the partygate debacle on his second day of evidence to the inquiry.
At one stage, he appeared to become emotional as he spoke of his own experience of being admitted to intensive care in April 2020 to reject suggestions he did not care about the suffering of the public.
