Britain, Thanasis Gavos

The Chancellor of the Exchequer David Cameron in Britain George Osborne rejected claims that budget cuts he imposed between 2010 and 2016 had an impact on the NHS’s ability to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

“Absolutely not. I completely reject this,” he said while testifying at noon before the independent public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic that has begun in London.

Mr Osborne countered that after the 2008 financial crisis, Britain’s public finances needed “fixing” and therefore argued that if fiscal discipline had not been imposed, “Britain would have been more exposed” to the pressures of the pandemic.

He admitted, however, that no financial planning had been done in the event of a lockdown for public health reasons. “No Ministry of Finance in any country has done it”he added.

He added that “it is not particularly fair to attribute responsibility” for this, as “the entire medical scientific community (…) was not upgrading the particular possibility of a coronavirus”.

Before George Osborne, the Under Secretary of State to the Prime Minister in the Cameron government, Sir Oliver Letwin, gave evidence to the inquiry.

His basic admission about the lack of preparation for a coronavirus pandemic was that the government believed that personal protective equipment against a flu pandemic, which was considered the most likely scenario, would work effectively against a coronavirus.

“It seems… and it seems so ridiculous in retrospect… there was a consensus that the issue was under control”commented Sir Oliver.