British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak began this Monday’s hearing into the official inquiry into the management of the Covid-19 pandemic by apologizing to those who lost loved ones during the crisis, but sought to overshadow the role in the government’s decisions at the time to put into perspective. .
Sunak, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer during the pandemic, apologized to “all those who have suffered in different ways during the pandemic as a result of the measures taken” and stressed that “it is important to learn lessons” so that it becomes possible to ‘be better prepared for the future’.
The head of government recalled that his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer was “to ensure that the Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) had the best possible advice, information and analysis on the economic impact or consequences of some of the decisions he had to make” .
During the crisis, he saw Johnson more than his wife and said the two “worked closely together.”
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer during the pandemic, was questioned a few days after his predecessor, who apologized to the families of the victims and admitted he should have realized the severity of the crisis “much sooner”.
Other members of the government and advisers pointed to Sunak’s perceived reluctance to impose restrictions during the pandemic and criticism of the role of scientists during the health crisis.
But from the start, Sunak insisted that Boris Johnson made the decisions and that his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer was to provide information on the economic impact of the planned measures, removing any “clash between public health and the economy”.
“There were a range of impacts, many socio-economic impacts, on education, mental health and justice, in addition to the purely economic impacts,” he stressed, as it was important for the government to investigate them all.
Rishi Sunak is expected to comment on the circumstances surrounding the launch of the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme in the afternoon [Eat out to help out]launched in the summer of 2020 to encourage Brits to return to restaurants and was criticized for.
Some scientists told the investigative committee that this contributed to the scale of the second wave of the epidemic in autumn 2020.
More than 230,000 people have died in Britain as a result of the pandemic and research is currently focusing on governance and political management during the virus outbreak.
Source: DN
