Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that his WhatsApp messages were “raw, in-the-moment” expressions and said they were “not the whole story” of the pandemic-era Government.

Mr Case is facing questions on highly critical WhatsApp messages that emerged during evidence to the inquiry last year and show his exasperation with the handling of the pandemic under Boris Johnson’s premiership.

In July 2020, before he became Cabinet Secretary, he said “I’ve never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country” in a message to Lord Sedwill, who was the Civil Service chief at the time.

He also described Mr Johnson and his inner circle as “basically feral” and suggested the then-prime minister’s wife Carrie was “the real person in charge” in No 10.

The UK’s top civil servant acknowledged that his messages, which include referring to Mr Johnson and his inner circle as “basically feral,” form part of the historical record for the Covid-19 inquiry as he gave evidence on Thursday.

“They are very raw, in-the-moment human expressions – they’re not the whole story but I recognise they’re part of the story. Many of them now require apologies for things that I said and the way I expressed myself,” Mr Case said.

Asked about negative messages he sent regarding Boris Johnson by lead counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith KC, Mr Case said: “Those are examples that I obviously now deeply regret of expressing my in-the-moment frustrations with the former prime minister.”

Mr Case said: “Each Prime Minister has their own approach to doing it and as I say, in my job, I found it very frustrating. I just don’t think I understood how difficult he was finding it personally.”

He said it was a “fair conclusion” to draw that a WhatsApp message he sent saying “Crisis + pygmies = toxic behaviour” was an observation on the abilities of individuals in the Cabinet Office and Number 10.

He also said: “Good people were working incredibly hard in impossible circumstances with choices where it seems there was never a right answer.

“But that lack of sort of a team spirit, the difficult atmosphere, we were trying to run everything from the centre of government, trying to run the response to a global pandemic.”

There was a duplication of effort, overlapping of meetings and “good people were just being smashed to pieces”, he said.

The Cabinet Secretary also said he had “intervened to try to get serious discussions off WhatsApp” during Mr Johnson’s government.

Mr Case said the first specific policy by Downing Street on WhatsApp was introduced in March 2021, but by that point it had become “an ingrained way of working”.

Mr Case’s appearance follows his return to work as Cabinet Secretary after he stepped back in October due to a medical matter.

In July 2020, before he became Cabinet Secretary, he said “I’ve never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country” in a message to Lord Sedwill, who was the Civil Service chief at the time.

He also described Mr Johnson and his inner circle as “basically feral” and suggested the then-prime minister’s wife Carrie was “the real person in charge” in No 10.

Mr Case was absent from hearings last year when other senior Westminster figures gave evidence.

The Covid-19 inquiry began in June 2022 and is made up of several modules. Mr Case’s evidence brings to an end the hearings for module 2, which focuses on core UK decision-making and political governance.