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Rishi Sunak Admits Wanting to Close Schools Instead of Shops

by Will Jones
11 December 2023 3:45 PM

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has admitted he wanted non-essential shops to open before schools in the first lockdown and it’s emerged he pushed for schools to be closed before shops in the second lockdown. The revelations come amid a robust defence of the Eat Out to Help Out reopening scheme at the Covid Inquiry today. The Mail has more.

Rishi Sunak vigorously defended Eat Out To Help Out today as he said the controversial Covid-era meal deal had saved millions of jobs that would have otherwise have been lost.

The Prime Minister told the official Covid Inquiry that jobs overwhelmingly held by vulnerable and marginalised people in hospitality and retail could have been devastated if he had not moved to kickstart consumerism in the summer of 2020.

Previous witnesses to the inquiry, including Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, have said they were blindsided by the programme that underwrote meals in pubs and restaurants.

It has heard that Sir Chris later referred to it as “Eat Out To Help Out the Virus” because of its impact on the disease’s circulation.

But in a rare fiery moment in today’s evidence the Prime Minister said they were not consulted because scientists had already signed off the wider reopening of hospitality, and it was just a small part of that wider policy

He added that at the time he did not see it as a medical risk, as reopening eateries – with mitigations like social distancing – had already been approved by SAGE scientists the previous May.

Mr. Sunak said that there had been a month between EOTHO being announced and it coming into effect, adding: “They (scientists) had ample opportunity to raise those concerns in forums where I was, or where the Prime Minister and others were, and they didn’t.” …

Defending the scheme he said: “Why would I raise it as a risk when I didn’t believe that it was? Because it was designed in the context of a safe reopening.

“The onus is surely on the people who now believe that it was a risk to have raised it at the time, when something could have been done about it, if they felt strongly.

“I’m very clear that I don’t believe that it was, because hospitality had been deemed to be safe to reopen with a considerable – as I said – hundreds of pages of guidance, changes in practice, and had been recommended by think tanks, and had been done by countries elsewhere.

Mr. Sunak had earlier admitted he wanted shops to reopen before schools after the first Covid lockdown – but denied pushing to reopen pubs and restaurants as well despite concerns their closure could cost jobs. …

In a WhatsApp exchange between then Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case from Autumn 2020, Mr. Case said Mr. Sunak favoured imposing curbs on schools rather than non-essential shops.

“Rishi has already resigned himself to the choice ahead – I spoke to him earlier. He is relatively open on regional or national (not least because regional is so wide that impact is pretty similar to national now),” the mandarin wrote.

“His only question (and a fair one) is about non-essential retail – where obviously we have no evidence of transmission. He thinks better to do something in secondary schools (where we know transmission takes place) instead of closing all shops (where we know it doesn’t seem to).”

A message sent by Mr Sunak’s private secretary on May 4, 2020, suggesting opening shops before schools

WhatsApp exchange between then Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case from Autumn 2020 – Case says Sunak favoured imposing curbs on schools rather than non-essential shops

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Covid InquiryCOVID-19Eat Out to Help OutLockdownNon-essentialRishi SunakSchoolShops

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