London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces questions Monday over whether his “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme to help the struggling hospitality sector during the pandemic spurred the spread of Covid-19.
Sunak, who was finance minister at the time, is due to give evidence to the public inquiry into the UK government’s handling of the crisis.
In a leaked message ahead of the inquiry, a government scientific adviser, Angela McLean, referred to Sunak as “Dr Death the Chancellor” because of her concerns about the project.
Sunak’s appearance follows Johnson’s own misgivings at last week’s inquiry, as he faces a series of demanding situations ahead of a general election scheduled for next year.
His testimony will refocus attention on the economics of repeated lockdowns due to the UK.
Sunak’s government-backed initiative encouraged other people to go to restaurants in August 2020 by paying a portion of the bill.
The hotel sector has been affected by lockdown policies that have forced it to close.
“It was an effective way of ensuring that the hospitality industry was supported through a very difficult period,” cabinet minister Michael Gove said on Sunday.
He said it was “entirely within the broad outlines of rules about social mixing that prevailed at the time”.
The inquiry has already heard from prominent figures, adding the questionable former Johnson aide Dominic Cummings and Patrick Vallance, who was the government’s most sensible scientific adviser during the pandemic.
‘Barter’
Vallance told the inquiry Sunak’s scheme was “highly likely” to have spurred deaths.
One of his diary entries recorded Cummings saying Sunak “just thinks about letting other people die and that’s fine. “
Sunak has denied the comment and highlighted that Vallance confirmed he did not hear him say it.
According to data said to have been shared with key participants in the inquiry, Sunak told a journalist last year that he had been “allowed to communicate about the trade-off” between the economic and social effects of lockdowns and their benefits in suppressing the virus. .
He also discussed the “problem” of empowering independent scientists on policy.
Sunak’s appearance at the inquiry comes as his government struggles to regain the initiative after one sacked minister’s damaging complaint and another’s resignation over a stalled immigration policy involving the deportation of migrants to Rwanda.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who sacked through Sunak last month, and Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick told the prime minister that his policy of preventing migrants from arriving in small boats was not difficult enough, prompting an additional department within the party.
The Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010, are lately far behind the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.
A poll by Ipsos last week found that 52 per cent of the electorate now had an unfavorable opinion of Sunak. His approval rating fell from minus nine in January to minus 28.
The political and monetary fallout from the pandemic has had far-reaching consequences for the UK.
Johnson was forced to leave his workplace last year after public anger over revelations about a series of parties breaching the Covid lockdown dubbed “Partygate”.
Meanwhile, Sunak’s policy of subsidizing the wages of those affected during the pandemic has cost billions and severely damaged the British economy.
Nearly 130,000 people died with Covid in Britain by mid-July 2021, one of the worst official per capita tolls among Western nations.
Check all issues & supplements