Cameron-Osborne austerity left UK ‘hugely unprepared’ for Covid, says report

The UK was hugely unprepared for the Covid crisis because of years of austerity overseen by David Cameron and George Osborne, according to a new report.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said that funding cuts reduced the country’s capacity to respond to the crisis, leaving the NHS and the social care sector “dangerously understaffed”.

Public services capacity was damaged by “steep cuts” to almost every part of the public sector, the union added.

Safe staffing levels in health and social care were undermined by a series of pay caps and pay freezes over a number of years, which impeded recruitment and increased staff turnover, the report found.

Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne are expected to push back against the claims of the damage done by austerity cuts when they give evidence to the Covid inquiry in the weeks ahead.

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt – who was health secretary under the coalition government – is also set to give evidence at hearings about preparedness, which are set to begin on 13 June.

The report was published ahead of a joint press conference with the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group on Monday, at which the group spoke about the lessons they believe must be learnt through the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began, spending per capita on social care, transport, housing, childcare, schools, higher education, police, fire services, and environmental protection was lower than in 2010, according to the TUC.

The report claimed that this limited the capacity of public services to contribute effectively to civil contingencies and to continue essential activities, such as children’s education, in an effective manner.

It added that during the pandemic, when workplace risks multiplied, workplace inspections and enforcement notices fell to an all-time low. Funding for the Health and Safety Executive was 43 per cent lower in 2021-22 than in 2009-10 in real terms, it claimed.

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TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said learning lessons meant taking “an unflinching look at the choices made by our leaders in the years before the pandemic”, as he said that the funding cuts had put NHS staff levels “in the danger zone”.

Mr Nowak said: “Cuts to social security pushed many more people below the poverty line, leaving them more vulnerable to infection, and cuts to health and safety left workers exposed to rogue employers who cut corners and put their lives at risk.”

He added: “Austerity cost the nation dearly. It left us hugely unprepared for the pandemic, and it left far too many workers unprotected. The consequences were painful and tragic.”

Boris Johnson remains at the centre of an astonishing row after Rishi Sunak’s government launched a High Court bid to challenge the Covid-19 inquiry over its demand to have access to the former prime minister’s unredacted messages and notebooks.

Bereaved families told The Independent that Mr Sunak should stop trying to “protect himself” and hand over his own WhatsApp messages in order that crucial pandemic decisions – including those relating to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme – can be scrutinised.

Rivka Gottlieb, of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group, said: “It looks like Sunak is protecting himself. It’s indecent to cover things up. I want every relevant person in government to be handing over WhatsApp messages.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would “hand over whatever is required” to the Covid inquiry if his party were in power.

“I’ll tell you for why – because many people lost relatives in Covid, many people lost their jobs and their livelihoods, and they deserve answers,” he told broadcasters. “So I’ll be very clear – we would hand over whatever is required by the chair, and we would do it having a mind for those that lost so much during Covid.”