Boris Johnson gives non-apology for never apologising for coronavirus blunders

Boris Johnson has offered a bizarre non-apology for his handling of the coronavirus crisis - saying he is sorry for never saying sorry.

The Prime Minister dodged questions on whether he finds it hard to say sorry for government blunders as he marked his first anniversary in Downing Street.

Instead he said he was sorry "if" he doesn't apologise - and then proceeded to blame the way the government is organised.

“Certainly I’m sorry if I don’t apologise. Put it like that," he said, during a visit to a GP surgery in East London.

Mr Johnson said: “But I think and I’m - of course there are things we get wrong. And we’re learning the whole time. And you’ve got to learn from your mistakes as fast as possible and that’s what we’re doing.”

Asked to name one mistake, the Prime Minister told Sky News: “It would be invidious to single out any particular mistake.

Boris Johnson refused to name a single mistake made by the government during the crisis. (REUTERS)

"But as I said… I think what I feel most strongly at the moment is that there are aspects of the way government works and the whole of government that really need to be faster and more responsive to the needs of the people."

He went on to say ministers needed to be focusing on tackling "backlog Britain" by speeding up the government's response to services used by the public.

The government has faced criticism on several fronts for its handling of the pandemic, including lack of protective kit for frontline workers, the botched rollout of testing and delayed protections for care homes, which have been devastated by the crisis.

Sage expert Professor John Edmunds previously warned that the lockdown in March came too late and said the decision "has cost a lot of lives".

Another expert, Professor Neil Ferguson, claimed the UK's death toll could have been halved if lockdown came a week earlier.

Speaking at Tollgate Medical Centre, in Beckton, London, Mr Johnson branded anti-vaxxers as "nuts" and urged people to get flu jabs ahead of the winter months.

He announced plans for the "biggest ever" flu vaccination programme to ease strain on the NHS, with all over-50s getting a free jab.