Keir Starmer has said the Government will 'carefully consider' the findings of Baroness Heather Hallett, who said Boris Johnson's dithering cost more than 20,000 lives
Keir Starmer has responded to today's damning Covid Inquiry findings - acknowledging the "pain and suffering" caused by government failures.
This afternoon a blistering report found chaos at the heart of government and a failure to take Covid-19 seriously cost 23,000 lives in the first wave of the pandemic. Baroness Heather Hallett said Boris Johnson presided over a "toxic" culture in Number 10 and regularly changed his mind - while cabinet members including Health Secretary Matt Hancock and key scientists all failed to act with the urgency needed.
In a written statement Mr Starmer said that lessons had been learned - but admitted that public services had not recovered from the pandemic. The PM said the Government will "carefully consider all of the findings and recommendations" of the report.
For the full findings of the damning report, click here
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POOL/AFP via Getty Images)He wrote: "I would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the pain and suffering the pandemic caused. However, the Chair has also concluded that the Government’s pandemic response was repeatedly "too little, too late", and that lessons were not learnt and mistakes repeated - exacerbating the impact of the pandemic.
"The Chair has found that the Government fell short, with advice lacking proper economic and social modelling, the impact on vulnerable people not sufficiently considered, and the culture in the centre of government described as “toxic”."
His statement goes on: "The Chair has noted that decisions were being taken in the context of the UK being ill-prepared to deal with a pandemic. Since then, improvements have been made to the way the Government would respond to a major crisis.
"That said, it is clear that local government and our public services, including the NHS, are under immense pressure and in many cases have not fully recovered from the pandemic. The cost of the pandemic still weighs heavily on the public purse.
"This is why this Government is committed to driving growth in the economy and reform of public services, so that when we face the next crisis, we do so from a position of national resilience."
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UK Covid-19 Inquiry/AFP via Gett)Baroness Hallett's report on the government response to Covid accused Mr Johnson of being too "optimistic" in his outlook in the early months of 2020. And she said his special adviser, Dominic Cummings, used "offensive, sexualised and misogynistic" language as he "poisoned" the atmosphere in Downing Street.
The inquiry found that the first and second lockdowns of the pandemic were not inevitable - but the government was left with no choice after failing to implement measures such as social distancing and household quarantine earlier. Not imposing any lockdown at all when it became apparent there was no choice would have "led to an unacceptable loss of life", she wrote.
But bringing the first one in a week earlier, on March 16, would have cut deaths in the first wave to July "by 48% - equating to approximately 23,000 fewer deaths" in England.
The report found the four governments across the UK did not take the virus seriously enough until it was "too late". And by the end of January 2020 it "should have been clear that the virus posed a serious and immediate threat".
February 2020 was "a lost month" and the lack of urgency overall in government was "inexcusable". As the pandemic unfolded, Mr Hancock "gained a reputation among senior officials and advisers at 10 Downing Street for overpromising and underdelivering".