✕CloseBoris Johnson shown all the times he said 'let Covid rip' in uncomfortable inquiry moment
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Rishi Sunak today told the Covid-19 Inquiry that launching the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was “the right thing to do”, adding it was designed to be safe within the lifting of lockdown measures.
The prime minister, who was chancellor at the time of the crisis, also defended the Treasury which was described as the “pro-death squad” by Boris Johnson because it wanted to ease lockdown restrictions quickly.
This afternoon, counsel Hugo Keith KC asked Mr Sunak why the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was rolled out without consultation with Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).
Mr Sunak said it was a “micro policy” designed “specifically in the context of the safe lifting of [COVID measures] that had already been signed off”.
Earlier in the day, Mr Sunak apologised to bereaved families for the government’s actions during the pandemic.
The PM is the latest member of the Covid-19 cabinet to face the inquiry. Last week, former prime minister Boris Johnson defended his actions and hit out at “dramatic” representations of the Partygate revelations.
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‘I was not aware the Treasury was called pro-death squad’
Rishi Sunak has said he was not aware the Treasury was called the “pro-death squad” when he was chancellor during the pandemic.
The prime minister said the term is “not a fair characterisation” of “the incredibly hardworking people” in the department.
Former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance revealed Boris Johnson joked about the Treasury being “the pro-death squad” during the pandemic because it wanted to ease lockdown restrictions quickly.
In an extract from his diary, shown to the Covid inquiry, Sir Patrick said Mr Johnson “ended up by saying the team must bring in the pro-death squad from HMT [Her Majesty’s Treasury]”.
Mr Sunak said: “The people who worked with the Treasury who worked extremely hard that entire period.”
Alex Ross11 December 2023 15:171702332058
‘Eat Out to Help Out’ was a good idea – and the Covid inquiry’s rewriting of history is dangerous
In case you missed it:
The then chancellor had to protect public health and the economy, writes John Rentoul. Which is why I raise a glass to his efforts to save the hospitality industry (as I did in my Covid gastropub)
‘Eat Out to Help Out’ was a good idea | John Rentoul
The then chancellor had to protect public health and the economy, writes John Rentoul. Which is why I raise a glass to his efforts to save the hospitality industry (as I did in my Covid gastropub)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 22:001702330258
Sunak says he has no Covid-era WhatsApps because he changed phone ‘multiple times'
Rishi Sunak confirmed that his pandemic-era WhatsApps were not available to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, saying he had changed his phone “multiple times” in recent years and not backed up his messages.
The Prime Minister, who served as chancellor during the coronavirus crisis, said he was never advised to save the exchanges, despite key conversations about the Government’s response taking place via the messaging app.
He argued he was not a “prolific user” of WhatsApp anyway, and that anything of significance would have been recorded officially.
It came after his Downing Street predecessor Boris Johnson also failed to provide the official probe with any communications from February to June 2020, a critical period in the early handling of the outbreak.
During his appearance on Monday, Mr Sunak was grilled on whether he had access to any of the WhatsApps he sent during the crisis.
He replied: “No, I don’t, I’ve changed my phone multiple times over the past few years and, as that has happened, the messages have not come across.
“As you said, I’m not a prolific user of WhatsApp in the first instance – primarily communication with my private office and obviously anything that was of significance through those conversations or exchanges would have been recorded officially by my civil servants as one would expect.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 21:301702328458
PM ‘offered sorrow but no apology to families'
Lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved, Aamer Anwar, said families who lost loved ones during the pandemic were “disappointed” by the Prime Minister’s evidence.
He said: “Rishi Sunak has finished giving his evidence today, and many of the Covid bereaved are left disappointed, he offered words of sorrow but offered no apology to the families.
“Rishi Sunak in his role as chancellor was Boris Johnson’s right-hand man, but his primary loyalty was clear – it was to the markets.
“Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson did not require the benefit of hindsight, the whole of Europe was watching in real time, a tsunami of the pandemic sweeping through Italy and the rest of Europe before hitting our shores.
“On the question of WhatsApps, the bereaved do not accept his explanation – the Covid bereaved find it inconceivable that any political leader anywhere in the United Kingdom cannot produce their WhatsApps for the key periods of the pandemic.
“The bereaved do not accept today’s excuses offered by the Prime Minister, that his WhatsApps are entirely unavailable.
“Rishi Sunak’s one-man mission to torpedo lockdown to gain a competitive advantage resulted in the false economy of sacrificing tens of thousands of lives to save the economy. Today the Covid bereaved do not accept his empty words of sorrow.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 21:001702326658
‘Sunak’s testinomy the weakest I’ve seen at Covid enquiry'
Speaking after the hearing, Jean Adamson, who lost her father Aldrich Adamson to Covid-19, said Sunak’s testimony was the weakest she had seen during the entire inquiry and criticised his refusal to provide his WhatsApp messages sent during the pandemic period.
Ms Adamson, who is a member of Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: “The fact that he’s refused to hand over his WhatsApp messages shows that he’s not interested to learn lessons and save lives, and that he takes us for idiots.
“This morning his testimony has been so far the most pathetic performance that I’ve seen from the very start of this inquiry.
“He ‘doesn’t recall’, he seems to have memory problems – ‘oh, I haven’t seen that email’.”
“He takes us for fools and continues to treat us with utter contempt. If another pandemic struck tomorrow the country would be left in the disastrous position of having a prime minister who the public doesn’t trust to respond well.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 20:301702325186
Bereaved families say PM’s evidence is ‘pathetic'
Bereaved families have called the Prime Minister’s evidence to the Covid inquiry “pathetic” and criticised his inability to recall emails sent during the pandemic.
Some people hung images of their dead relatives around their necks and when Rishi Sunak left the inquiry room many stood and held up photographs of loved ones who died from the virus.
There were collective sighs when, repeatedly, Mr Sunak said he did not recall pieces of evidence during his time as chancellor, including an email from his private secretary that cited fears the government’s measures to open up the UK after lockdown were “at the riskier end of the spectrum”.
Members of Covid Bereaved Families, holding photographs of their relatives who died during the pandemic, outside Dorland House in London, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
(PA Wire)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 20:061702322537
Key points from Rishi Sunak’s evidence today- part three:
– A sombre apology to the bereaved
As Mr Johnson did last week, Mr Sunak used his opening remarks to the inquiry to issue an apology. The Prime Minister said he was “deeply sorry” to those who lost loved ones and who suffered during the pandemic “as a result of the actions that were taken”. He added that “it’s important that we learn the lessons so that we can be better prepared in the future”.
– What was happening outside the inquiry
Mr Sunak would have been painfully aware that, as he gave evidence, restive Tory MPs were poring over his Rwanda legislation ahead of a crunch vote. In a blow to the Prime Minister during the inquiry’s lunch break, a panel of lawyers convened by rebel MPs rejected the Bill, saying it did not go far enough.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 19:221702319456
Key points from Rishi Sunak’s evidence today- part two:
– Not recalling things
Mr Sunak was challenged over his hazy memory of a March 23 2020 meeting where the decision was taken to impose the first lockdown. “I can’t precisely recall that particular meeting,” he said, prompting lead counsel Hugo Keith KC to say: “This was, of course, one of the most momentous decisions in the history of this nation.”
Other elements he could apparently not remember included warnings over how risky the wider opening-up measures were ahead of Eat Out To Help Out’s August 2020 launch, concerns then-health secretary Matt Hancock said he raised about the scheme, and details of the free school meals policy.
– Defending his former boss
Mr Sunak played down suggestions by previous witnesses that Mr Johnson’s No 10 was dysfunctional and that he dithered over Covid restrictions. He said comments about the administration being “criminally incompetent” and “chaotic” were not shared with him at the time. It would be “worse” if there had not been “vigorous debate” over such consequential decisions, Mr Sunak argued.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 18:301702318556
Key points from Rishi Sunak’s evidence today- part one:
Rishi Sunak, who served as chancellor during the coronavirus pandemic and was responsible for implementing the furlough and Eat Out To Help Out schemes, appeared before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Monday.
Here are the key points from his evidence:
– Defending Eat Out To Help Out
Mr Sunak offered an animated defence of his controversial initiative, saying it was the “right thing to do to protect” workers from the “devastating consequences” of job losses.
Grilled about why the Government’s scientific advisers and health secretary were not consulted, he argued it was a “micro policy” within the overall reopening plan they had already approved.
He added that they had “ample opportunity” to raise concerns and did not.
– Missing WhatsApps
Mr Sunak confirmed that his pandemic-era messages were not available to Baroness Hallett’s probe because he had changed his phone “multiple times over the last few years” and the messages from the old ones had “not come across”.
No one advised him to try to save messages for the inquiry, even when Boris Johnson announced its establishment in May 2021, he said. But, he noted, he was not a “prolific” WhatsApp user anyway and anything of significance was recorded officially.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 18:151702317656
Rishi Sunak defends Eat Out to Help Out scheme under intense pressure at Covid inquiry
Rishi Sunak mounted a fierce defence of his controversial Eat Out to Help Out scheme and said it was unfair to call the Treasury a “pro-death squad“ during the pandemic.
The prime minister used an eight-hour evidence session to brush off accusations that he launched the controversial hospitality-boosting scheme without proper scientific advice. He praised the “incredibly hardworking people“ working in the Treasury while he was chancellor, hitting back at Boris Johnson’s suggestion they were happy to oversee an increase in deaths in order to lift lockdown restrictions.
The now-PM also said he “consistently” warned his predecessor Mr Johnson about the wider impacts of lockdown, blaming the “economic scarring” it left for the nation’s parlous finances today.
Rishi Sunak defends Eat Out to Help Out scheme under pressure at Covid inquiry
The prime minister used an eight-hour evidence session to brush off accusations that he launched the controversial hospitality-boosting scheme without proper scientific advice
Maryam Zakir-Hussain11 December 2023 18:00NewerOlder✕
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