Latest news with #CovidInquiry
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rishi Sunak ‘refused to pay people more to self-isolate during Covid'
Rishi Sunak refused to pay people more to self-isolate during the pandemic, the inquiry into the crisis has heard. Baroness Harding, the former head of NHS Test and Trace, said the then-chancellor rejected proposals to pay people more to isolate 'at every opportunity' while he was chancellor. 'There was an intransigence to that, that I think was very sad,' she told the Covid Inquiry. In September 2020, the government announced that people would be required to self-isolate by law. A £500 package of support was put in place for people on low incomes who could not work from home and would lose pay as a result. But in her witness statement to the inquiry, Baroness Harding said: 'The UK spent proportionally much less than other developed countries enabling disadvantaged people to self-isolate. 'If we had allocated more of the NHS Test and Trace budget to isolation support, I strongly suspect that fewer would have died and infection rates would have been lower, with all the benefits that would have brought.' Asked whether she felt she held any responsibility for the way the Test and Trace budget unfolded, she replied: 'It's certainly the thing that I wish I had succeeded in persuading ministers to do. 'We had the money in the budget, we didn't spend all of our budget, and I also think that spending more on self-isolation would have reduced the need for testing. 'But I wasn't the decision-maker – the decision-maker in this was the chancellor and at every opportunity, from June onwards, the chancellor rejected the proposals. And, in the end, that was not in my control.' Summarising her written evidence, Sophie Cartwright KC, the counsel to the inquiry, told the hearing that, amid low take-up of self-isolation when the support system came into place in September 2020, the Baroness 'continued to champion for more to be done' but felt on occasion like she was 'banging her head against a brick wall'. Baroness Harding said: 'The modelling showed that the best way to get an operationally effective test and trace system that would reduce the rate of infection and enable us to get back to a more normal life was to encourage more people to come forward for testing. 'And that the data told us that people weren't coming forward for testing because they were scared of the consequences of isolation. To be honest, it was intensely frustrating. 'And what you see through the paper trail – I found it quite distressing reading it, to be honest – because we did try really hard to persuade ministers that this would be a good thing, not just for the individual wellbeing of those disadvantaged people, but also economically – this was one of the ways you could have had less economic harm for the country as a whole. 'And I think that the chancellor, particularly, this was a point of principle for him. 'I don't think there was any amount of data and analysis that I could have put that would have changed his mind – it was a point of principle that he didn't want to create an additional welfare benefit. 'Now I do appreciate this is a complex thing... there is a policy conundrum there, but what I was unable to achieve was any substantive engagement in how to mitigate that policy problem and to recognise that actually, the policy problem of not supporting the vulnerable to isolate was a much bigger one. 'You can hear my frustration as I say it now, there was an intransigence to that that I think was very sad.' Meanwhile, Baroness Harding was asked about Test and Trace needing to put all communications out through Downing Street. She said that, in a future pandemic, a public health agency should be able to have deep expertise 'but also permission to speak', adding: 'Trust in a system like this is its most important quality and I would be first to say that we could have done better at building society's trust in this.' Ms Cartwright replied: 'I think you detailed that request for you to essentially directly communicate on those issues was refused, and essentially, you ended up feeling like NHS Test and Trace became the whipping boy.' Baroness Harding replied: 'Yes.' The inquiry continues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Rishi Sunak ‘refused to pay people more to self-isolate during Covid'
refused to pay people more to self-isolate during the pandemic, the inquiry into the crisis has heard. Baroness Harding, the former head of NHS Test and Trace, said the then chancellor rejected proposals to pay people more to isolate 'at every opportunity' while he was chancellor. 'There was an intransigence to that, that I think was very sad,' she told the Covid Inquiry. In September 2020, the government announced that people would be required to self-isolate by law. A £500 package of support was put in place for people on low incomes who could not work from home and would lose pay as a result. But in her witness statement to the inquiry, Baroness Harding said: 'The UK spent proportionally much less than other developed countries enabling disadvantaged people to self-isolate. 'If we had allocated more of the NHS Test and Trace budget to isolation support, I strongly suspect that fewer would have died and infection rates would have been lower, with all the benefits that would have brought.' Asked whether she felt she held any responsibility for the way the Test and Trace budget unfolded, she replied: 'It's certainly the thing that I wish I had succeeded in persuading ministers to do. 'We had the money in the budget, we didn't spend all of our budget, and I also think that spending more on self-isolation would have reduced the need for testing. 'But I wasn't the decision-maker – the decision-maker in this was the chancellor and at every opportunity, from June onwards, the chancellor rejected the proposals. And, in the end, that was not in my control.' Summarising her written evidence, Sophie Cartwright KC, the counsel to the inquiry, told the hearing that, amid low take-up of self-isolation when the support system came into place in September 2020, the Baroness 'continued to champion for more to be done' but felt on occasion like she was 'banging her head against a brick wall'. Baroness Harding said: 'The modelling showed that the best way to get an operationally effective test and trace system that would reduce the rate of infection and enable us to get back to a more normal life was to encourage more people to come forward for testing. 'And that the data told us that people weren't coming forward for testing because they were scared of the consequences of isolation. To be honest, it was intensely frustrating. 'And what you see through the paper trail – I found it quite distressing reading it, to be honest – because we did try really hard to persuade ministers that this would be a good thing, not just for the individual wellbeing of those disadvantaged people, but also economically – this was one of the ways you could have had less economic harm for the country as a whole. 'And I think that the chancellor, particularly, this was a point of principle for him. 'I don't think there was any amount of data and analysis that I could have put that would have changed his mind – it was a point of principle that he didn't want to create an additional welfare benefit. 'Now I do appreciate this is a complex thing... there is a policy conundrum there, but what I was unable to achieve was any substantive engagement in how to mitigate that policy problem and to recognise that actually, the policy problem of not supporting the vulnerable to isolate was a much bigger one. 'You can hear my frustration as I say it now, there was an intransigence to that that I think was very sad.' Meanwhile, Baroness Harding was asked about Test and Trace needing to put all communications out through Downing Street. She said that, in a future pandemic, a public health agency should be able to have deep expertise 'but also permission to speak', adding: 'Trust in a system like this is its most important quality and I would be first to say that we could have done better at building society's trust in this.'
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Boris Johnson wanted authoritarian Covid rules, inquiry hears
Boris Johnson pushed for a more "ruthless, authoritarian approach" towards people who refused to self-isolate during the pandemic, the Uk's former scientific adviser has told the Covid instinct of policy makers was to favour "punitive measures" over financial support, according to Lord Patrick Vallance who spoke to the PM throughout the crisis and appeared alongside him on TV entries written by Lord Vallance during that time revealed officials "always want[ed] to go for stick, not carrot".Lord Vallance has said his diary entries were informal personal reflections and "late night musings", never intended for publication. He was giving evidence to the sixth part of the Covid inquiry, which is investigating test, trace and quarantine 90 minutes of questioning, he was shown a series of entries from his evening diaries from the first year of the 12 August 2020, he wrote about a meeting with the prime minister and his senior aides, including then chief adviser Dominic Cummings and cabinet secretary Simon Case."Instinct of this crew is to go for more enforcement and punitive measures," he wrote."We suggested more carrot and incentives [were] required to make people take a test, self-isolate etc, but they always want to go for stick not carrot."Asked who he was referring to in that entry, Lord Vallance said it would have been the "decision-makers for policy".In another entry, on 25 September 2020, as Covid cases were rising once again, he quoted Boris Johnson as saying: "We need a lot more punishments and a lot more closing down".And in a further entry on 7 January 2021, just after the start of the third nationwide lockdown, he wrote: "PM says: 'We haven't been ruthless enough. We need to force more isolation. I favour a more authoritarian approach.'"However, he also added: "Rather late in the day, the PM is understanding that incentives (or removal of disincentives) need to be in place to help people." On 28 September 2020, ministers introduced a legal duty for those who had tested positive for Covid or were contacted by the test-and-trace service to self-isolate in England. It was announced that fines of between £1,000 and £10,000 would be imposed on repeat support payments of £500 were also offered for those on lower Patrick said it was "important to remember" the purpose of mass testing was to identify potentially infectious individuals who could self-isolate and "if isolation isn't happening, then testing isn't really doing what it's supposed to be doing".When the new rules were introduced, Boris Johnson said the public needed to do "all it could to control the spread of the virus" and prevent the most vulnerable from becoming infected. Earlier, Matt Hancock told the inquiry it was "crucial" the UK should retain its ability to rapidly scale-up mass testing for a new disease in any future former health secretary said he was concerned the testing system set up in 2020 was now being dismantled, making it much harder to respond."The critical thing is that we absolutely must, as a nation, be ready to radically expand capacity once a test is developed," he said. "We were not last time." Asymptomatic infections Mr Hancock was asked about a letter he was sent, on 14 April 2020, by two Nobel prize winning scientists, Sir Paul Nurse and Sir Peter Ratcliffe, urging that all healthcare workers be offered regular tests for the evidence last week, Prof Nurse said his letter had been "ignored" by the secretary of state for three months, before he received an "anodyne response" from another civil testing of care home workers didn't start until the summer of 2020 in England, while NHS staff and other social care workers were not offered weekly tests until November of that Hancock said he had not seen the letter personally and by that point, the government was already putting in place policies to tackle the transmission of the virus by people without clear Covid symptoms."The argument that is implied is that, somehow, somebody eminent who won a Nobel Prize knew something and we ignored it. It's just not true. It's not what happened," he said.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
O'Neill and Foster to appear before Covid Inquiry
The Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and former First Minister Arlene Foster will appear before the Covid Inquiry on Wednesday. The sitting in London will concentrate on Stormont's approach to testing, tracing and isolation during the pandemic. It will also hear from the former Ulster Unionist health minister, Robin Swann, and Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride. The inquiry was ordered by the then prime minister Boris Johnson in May 2021 and public hearings began almost two years ago. Hearings are due to end next February. O'Neill, who became first minister in February 2024, faced claims she broke coronavirus guidelines in June 2020 when she attended the funeral of leading Irish Republican Bobby Storey. She had previously apologised for the hurt caused by her actions and any undermining of the public health message, but not for her attendance. She once said she would "never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend". But at the Covid Inquiry in May 2024 she said: "My actions compounded the hurt, my actions also angered families. I am sorry for going and I am sorry for the hurt that's been caused." When asked by the chair, Baroness Hallett, if she was aware of the hurt and anger at the time, O'Neill replied: "I didn't and I ought to have." Those hearings in Belfast also revealed the anger felt by former chief medical officer Michael McBride at how the executive had behaved during the pandemic The inquiry was shown a text message sent by him which described it as "politics at its worst" and that they should "hang their heads in shame", although he did not refer to anyone in particular. Baroness Foster, the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, was first minister during the pandemic. When the inquiry met in Belfast last May she rejected suggestions the executive had "sleepwalked" during the pandemic. In reply to a claim by Clair Dobbin KC that it was "really difficult" to understand why basic response plans were not activated by the time it was declared, she said the idea "we would expose constituents to this in a wilful way is frankly offensive". She said she "totally and absolutely" rejected the claim, as the executive had been determined to work for the people of Northern Ireland. The former first minister insisted the executive had been receiving advice from health officials, and that the Department of Health was taking the lead on the initial response to the virus. Baroness Foster was Northern Ireland's first minister from 2016 to 2017 and during the pandemic from January 2020 until she resigned on 14 June 2021. She was leader of the DUP from 2016 to 2022. She told the inquiry she accepted responsibility for how the executive handled the Covid pandemic, saying Northern Ireland should have locked down sooner than it did to prevent more deaths. But she added: "We felt we had time and we didn't have time, and that's a source of great regret." It was, said Baroness Foster, the most difficult time of her political career. The inquiry also heard Baroness Foster questioned about her party's controversial use of a cross-community vote mechanism in autumn 2020 to prevent some Covid rules from being extended. Ministers didn't sleepwalk into pandemic - Foster Woman shares 'horrendous' experience of parents dying from Covid Stormont 'not really listened to' during Covid, inquiry hears
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Michelle O'Neill and Arlene Foster to appear before Covid Inquiry
The Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and former First Minister Arlene Foster will appear before the Covid Inquiry on sitting in London will concentrate on Stormont's approach to testing, tracing and isolation during the will also hear from the former Ulster Unionist health minister, Robin Swann, and Chief Medical Officer Michael inquiry was ordered by the then prime minister Boris Johnson in May 2021 and public hearings began almost two years ago. Hearings are due to end next February. 'My actions angered families' O'Neill, who became first minister in February 2024, faced claims she broke coronavirus guidelines in June 2020 when she attended the funeral of leading Irish Republican Bobby had previously apologised for the hurt caused by her actions and any undermining of the public health message, but not for her attendance. She once said she would "never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend".But at the Covid Inquiry in May 2024 she said: "My actions compounded the hurt, my actions also angered families. I am sorry for going and I am sorry for the hurt that's been caused."When asked by the chair, Baroness Hallett, if she was aware of the hurt and anger at the time, O'Neill replied: "I didn't and I ought to have."Those hearings in Belfast also revealed the anger felt by former chief medical officer Michael McBride at how the executive had behaved during the pandemicThe inquiry was shown a text message sent by him which described it as "politics at its worst" and that they should "hang their heads in shame", although he did not refer to anyone in particular. Foster talked of 'regret' Baroness Foster, the former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, was first minister during the pandemic. When the inquiry met in Belfast last May she rejected suggestions the executive had "sleepwalked" during the reply to a claim by Clair Dobbin KC that it was "really difficult" to understand why basic response plans were not activated by the time it was declared, she said the idea "we would expose constituents to this in a wilful way is frankly offensive".She said she "totally and absolutely" rejected the claim, as the executive had been determined to work for the people of Northern former first minister insisted the executive had been receiving advice from health officials, and that the Department of Health was taking the lead on the initial response to the Foster was Northern Ireland's first minister from 2016 to 2017 and during the pandemic from January 2020 until she resigned on 14 June was leader of the DUP from 2016 to told the inquiry she accepted responsibility for how the executive handled the Covid pandemic, saying Northern Ireland should have locked down sooner than it did to prevent more she added: "We felt we had time and we didn't have time, and that's a source of great regret."It was, said Baroness Foster, the most difficult time of her political inquiry also heard Baroness Foster questioned about her party's controversial use of a cross-community vote mechanism in autumn 2020 to prevent some Covid rules from being extended.
