London, Thanasis Gavos

In the face of the independent investigation into the govt handling the coronavirus pandemic the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom appeared in London this morning David Cameron.

The questions he received focused mainly on the degree of preparation of the British state apparatus to deal with a pandemic and what was the impact on this preparation of the strict austerity policy that he implemented during his government from 2010 to 2016.

The Confederation of Trade Unions, which has a central role in the inquiry into how to prepare the public health system, had asked Mr Cameron to admit the huge shortfalls in the country’s hospitals and social care structures due to funding cuts by his government.

The head of the British Medical Association, Philip Banfield, had accused Mr Cameron over the weekend of being jointly responsible for the “catastrophic” deficiencies when the pandemic started, speaking of “fragmented public health system”.

Dr Banfield also blamed Cameron’s finance and health ministers, George Osborne and Jeremy Hunt (current Chancellor of the Exchequer), who will also be called to give evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

In his testimony Mr Cameron admitted that he was “error” on the part of the authorities during the period of his administration “not to consider a wider range of possible pandemics than an influenza pandemic” which was considered the most likely scenario.

He argued that his government “has done more than many others” in terms of planning for future health challenges and has even tried to “change some of the international dynamics” on that planning.

Regarding austerity, he said the goal of his economic policy was to save the resources needed to be the state apparatus to face challenges, just like a pandemic.

He rejected the claim of the investigation lawyer that the reduced state budget for public health during his prime ministership led to a weakening of the hospitals’ ability to provide adequate services.