UK focused too much on flu preparedness, Cameron tells Covid inquiry
David Cameron admitted during an evidence session at the UK Covid-19 inquiry on Monday that pandemic planning had focused too much on influenza while he was in office from 2010 to 2016.
But the former prime minister, the first politician to appear before the public inquiry, rejected claims that his government’s austerity programme had undermined the ability of the NHS to respond to the health crisis.
Cameron closed by telling Mitchell: “I’m desperately sorry about the loss of life. So many people have lost people that are close to them . . . and people also suffered in all sorts of ways through the pandemic. And that’s why this inquiry is so important.”
The Covid inquiry was set up to examine the UK’s response to and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and is due to hold public hearings until at least 2026.
The next politicians to give evidence will be former chancellor George Osborne and Sir Oliver Letwin, former cabinet minister on Tuesday, followed by chancellor Jeremy Hunt and cabinet office secretary Oliver Dowden on Wednesday.
The leaders of the government’s scientific response to Covid, chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and former chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance, will appear on Thursday.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Clive Cookson
