Lockdown could have been avoided, Covid inquiry finds

As Prime Minister, Mr Johnson ‘reinforced a culture in which the loudest voices prevailed and the views of other colleagues, particularly women, often went ignored’, its second report has said.

It also claims he ‘encouraged’ the ‘destabilising behaviour’ of his adviser Dominic Cummings.

Baroness Heather Hallett, the inquiry chair, concluded that there was a lack of urgency in responding to the initial spread of the virus in 2020.

Read more: Unemployment rate hits highest outside Covid years for almost a decade

She says the UK government, as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all failed in taking timely and effective action.

It was a repeated case of “too little, too late”, she said, as her report claimed that if the first mandatory lockdown had been imposed a week earlier, it may not have been needed for as long.

It also points to modelling that suggests doing that would have saved 23,000 lives.

Baroness Hallett said: “In early 2020, Covid-19 was a novel and deadly virus spreading rapidly around the country. All four governments failed to appreciate the scale of the threat or the urgency of response it demanded. “When they did realise the scale of the threat, politicians and administrators in the UK government and the devolved administrations were presented with unenviable choices as to how to respond.

“Whatever decision they took there was often no right answer or good outcome. They also had to make decisions in conditions of extreme pressure. Nonetheless, I can summarise my findings of the response as ‘too little, too late’.

“The Inquiry has therefore identified a number of key lessons learned to inform the response to a future pandemic. In all, I make 19 key recommendations that I believe will better protect the UK in any future pandemic and improve decision-making in a crisis.”

The second of ten reports from the inquiry makes 19 recommendations to the government, to improve its working and decision-making process for emergencies.

They include creating an agreed framework to consider the impact of policies on vulnerable people at risk of being the most negatively affected by them.

Formal contingency arrangements should be made for key people, it says, like the Prime Minister and First Ministers, for in cases where they can’t undertake their duties, as happened with Boris Johnson when he was admitted to hospital.

And the inquiry calls for a greater level of parliamentary scrutiny when emergency powers are used.

The report concluded that a reduction in oversight by Parliament during the pandemic meant that advisers ‘with little previous knowledge of government were able to turn an idea into law with little proper scrutiny’.

Singling out Boris Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings, the inquiry described his behavior in government as ‘destabilising’ and said it was ‘at times actively encouraged’ by the Prime Minister.

The inquiry report also takes aim at the use of WhatsApp by government officials to discuss, and in some cases, make key decisions during the pandemic.

It notes that Boris Johnson told the inquiry in evidence that there “was not ‘Government by WhatsApp’” during the pandemic.

The report says: “However, there was evidence of UK government WhatsApp discussions about: possible interventions in March 2020; the lifting of restrictions in the summer of 2020; whether to implement a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown in September 2020; the viability of population segmentation; mandating face coverings; and the reduction in social distancing.

The inquiry said these conversations, including in Scotland, and the fact many of them were not retained - ‘some deliberately, some accidentally’ - undermined the level of scrutiny, transparency and accountability of the people in charge.

In Scotland, the inquiry concluded that Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister acted in a way that often excluded others in her own government from deciding key policies.

It said: “She was a serious and diligent leader, however, Ms Sturgeon’s desire to take full responsibility for the decisions made during the pandemic often meant that other senior decision makers or advisers were excluded from the process.”

A message from one of her key clinical advisers to another member of the Scottish cabinet at the time read: “There was some [First Minister] ‘keep it small’ shenanigans as always. She actually wants none of us.”

The Covid Inquiry noted that ‘a lack of trust between the Prime Minister and First Ministers coloured the approach to involving the devolved administrations in UK government decision-making through the pandemic’.

It calls for a clearer structure for intergovernmental relations during an emergency which is ‘capable of accommodating differences in response’ between the nations.

In a statement, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said: “The evidence from the inquiry is clear, and while it is vindicating to see Boris Johnson blamed in black and white for the catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic, it is devastating to think of the lives that could have been saved under a different prime minister.

“We now know that many of our family members would still be alive today if it weren’t for the leadership of Boris Johnson and his colleagues.

“As the report has found, the government’s approach to the pandemic was undermined from the beginning.

“If Johnson had listened to scientific advice and locked down even a week earlier, around 23,000 people could have been saved.“Instead, throughout the pandemic, Boris Johnson put his political reputation ahead of public safety.

“He pandered to his critics when the UK needed decisive action.

“In delaying lockdowns he made them longer, more damaging to the economy and less effective, he ignored scientific advice that didn’t fit his agenda, and he ignored the impact of his decisions on the front line, repeating the mistakes of the first wave and prolonging the second.”

Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would “carefully consider” Baroness Heather Hallett’s report on the handling of the Covid pandemic.

In a written statement to Parliament, the Prime Minister said he wanted to “take the opportunity to acknowledge the pain and suffering the pandemic caused”.

He said there had been “improvements” in the way the Government would respond to a major crisis.

But Sir Keir added: “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.

“I would like to thank Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on this report. The Government will carefully consider all of the findings and recommendations of the report and respond in due course.”

The inquiry’s next report, focusing on the impact of the pandemic on the UK’s healthcare systems is due to be published next year, before a further six reports are expected to be released in quick succession.

The final of its 10 reports is expected to be published no later than summer 2027.