A 800-page inquiry into the country’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been released, and the findings are not flattering to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government, Politico reports.
The inquiry concluded that the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 was too late and indecisive, partly due to the atmosphere in Downing Street under Johnson. Heather Hallett, the chairwoman of the inquiry, warned on the 20th of November that if lessons are not learned and fundamental changes are not made, everything that was sacrificed during the pandemic will be in vain.
The report criticized Johnson for not taking the virus seriously enough and for wavering between different decisions on the introduction of a lockdown order. It also criticized reckless and controversial comments that offended the families of virus victims.
Johnson’s leadership skills have also been criticized, and the work environment he created has been called “toxic and chaotic.” He is said to have fostered an environment in which the views of others, especially women, were ignored. The former British prime minister also encouraged the unpleasant behavior of his adviser Dominic Cummings while in office.
The report even criticized Cummings more than his boss. He, according to the report, participated in creating a toxic and sexist environment at the heart of the British government. The adviser was also
blamed for increasing the atmosphere of fear, mutual suspicion and distrust of the government
during the crisis. At the same time, it is noted that Cummings acted decisively, changing the government’s strategy at the beginning of the pandemic, thereby saving lives.
Matt Hancock, a reality TV star who has now become the laughing stock of British politics, was the health secretary during the pandemic, a position of particular importance at the time. He is repeatedly criticized in the report for his actions at a time when the virus was just beginning to spread. He is condemned for being overly enthusiastic about confronting the pandemic, which he passed on to Johnson and senior government officials, while in reality promising what he could not deliver. Hancock’s reliability has also been discussed in meetings where the country’s response was discussed in the early stages of the pandemic. The inquiry report notes that Britain should have imposed a lockdown a week earlier in March 2020 than it did, and the delay is said to have claimed around 23,000 lives.
Chris Wormald, the secretary to current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, also held a senior position in Hancock’s Department of Health during the pandemic. He has been repeatedly criticized for creating the wrong impression that the department was ready to act when it was not. Wormald has also been accused of failing to rein in Hancock’s overconfidence.
The government as a whole has also been criticized. The government’s decision-making bodies have been said to have needed improvement during the pandemic, while Johnson has often sidelined his own cabinet in favor of centralized decision-making.
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