- The former finance minister says the disadvantages of blockades have been removed
- Sunak says the scientists were given too much influence
- The prime ministerial candidate says the government tried to scare the public
LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Former finance minister Rishi Sunak, one of two candidates vying to be Britain’s next prime minister, criticized outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the COVID pandemic -19, saying that it had been a mistake to “empower” scientists and that the drawbacks of blockades were removed.
The ruling Conservative Party is choosing a new leader after Johnson was forced to resign when dozens of ministers quit in protest over a series of scandals and missteps. Party members are voting to select either Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who will take over next month.
Opinion polls show Sunak trailing in the race. The handling of the pandemic has become an issue, with Truss saying this month she would never approve another lockdown and also insisting that as trade minister at the time she was not involved in making key decisions about how to respond.
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Sunak said the government was “wrong to scare people” about the coronavirus. He said officials in Johnson’s office barred him from discussing “commitments” to imposing coronavirus-related restrictions, such as the impact on missed doctor’s appointments and lengthening waiting lists for to healthcare at the state’s National Health Service.
“The script was to never recognize them,” he told Spectator magazine. “The script was, ‘Oh, there’s no trade-off, because doing this for our health is good for the economy.’
Sunak said scientists from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the group that helped respond to the outbreak, were given too much influence by ministers in making decisions such as closing schools and kindergartens.
Sunak said that during the start of the pandemic, when scientists presented them with scenarios of what would happen if lockdowns were not imposed or extended, their pleas for the underlying modeling were ignored.
Sunak said it is unfair to blame officials because ministers are elected to make decisions.
“If you empower all these independent people, you’re screwed,” he said.
Sunak himself was popular at the start of the pandemic because, as finance minister at the time, he launched a furlough plan that kept many people on the payroll even when lockdowns meant they couldn’t work.
“VERY EMOTIONAL”
Asked why opinion polls showed the public was anxious for the country to be in lockdown, Sunak said: “We helped shape that: with the fear messages.”
Sunak said it was wrong for the government to release posters showing patients on ventilators and claimed the Cabinet Office was “very upset” when he gave a speech in September 2020 calling on people to “live without fear”.
Britain under Johnson was slower than most of its European peers to lock down in early 2020. After suffering some of the highest death rates at the start of the pandemic, it later became one of the first major economies to reopen.
Asked about Sunak’s remarks, a government spokesman defended his record on COVID, saying the economy and early childhood education were central to difficult decisions made during the pandemic.
Sunak, who resigned from Johnson’s government last month, suggested schools could have stayed open during the pandemic. He said during a meeting that he tried to voice his opposition to school closures, saying he got “very emotional.”
“After that there was a great silence,” he said. “It was the first time anyone had said that. I was so furious.”
The lockdown “could have been shorter” or had a “different” approach, he said.
A public inquiry into the government’s preparedness, as well as the public health and economic response to the pandemic, is expected to begin taking evidence next year.
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Reporting by Andrew MacAskill Editing by Kate Holton and Frances Kerry
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.