London: Former Finance Minister Rishi sunkiOne of two candidates competing to become Britain’s next prime minister said it was a mistake to “empower” scientists during the coronavirus pandemic and that the downsides of the lockdown were suppressed.
Rule conservative Party Prime Minister is choosing a new leader after Boris johnson When dozens of ministers resigned in protest against several scandals and missteps, they were forced to step down. Party members voting to choose Sunak or Foreign Secretary liz truss,
Sunak said the government was “wrong to scare people” about the coronavirus. He said he was barred from discussing the “trade-offs” of imposing coronavirus-related restrictions, such as the impact on missed doctor appointments and lengthening health waiting lists at the state-run National Health Service.
“The script never had to accept them,” he told Spectator magazine. “The script was: ‘Oh, there’s no trade-off, because doing this for our health is good for the economy.
Sunak said it was a mistake to allow about 50 scientists on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the group that helped the government respond to the outbreak, to make decisions such as closing schools had such an impact.
He added: “We shouldn’t have empowered scientists the way we did.”
Asked whether opinion polls showed the public was eager for a lockdown in the country, Sunak said: “We helped shape it: with a fear message”.
Britain under Johnson was slower than most of its European peers in early 2020. After suffering some of the highest death rates at the start of the pandemic, it later became one of the first major economies to reopen.
A government spokesman defended his record covidStating that the economy and children’s education were at the heart of difficult decisions made during the pandemic.
Sunak, who resigned from Johnson’s government last month, suggested schools could remain open during the pandemic. He said during a meeting he tried to raise his voice against the closure of schools and said he was “very passionate about it”.
“Afterwards there was a great silence,” he said. “It was the first time anyone had said this. I was so angry.”
Rule conservative Party Prime Minister is choosing a new leader after Boris johnson When dozens of ministers resigned in protest against several scandals and missteps, they were forced to step down. Party members voting to choose Sunak or Foreign Secretary liz truss,
Sunak said the government was “wrong to scare people” about the coronavirus. He said he was barred from discussing the “trade-offs” of imposing coronavirus-related restrictions, such as the impact on missed doctor appointments and lengthening health waiting lists at the state-run National Health Service.
“The script never had to accept them,” he told Spectator magazine. “The script was: ‘Oh, there’s no trade-off, because doing this for our health is good for the economy.
Sunak said it was a mistake to allow about 50 scientists on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the group that helped the government respond to the outbreak, to make decisions such as closing schools had such an impact.
He added: “We shouldn’t have empowered scientists the way we did.”
Asked whether opinion polls showed the public was eager for a lockdown in the country, Sunak said: “We helped shape it: with a fear message”.
Britain under Johnson was slower than most of its European peers in early 2020. After suffering some of the highest death rates at the start of the pandemic, it later became one of the first major economies to reopen.
A government spokesman defended his record covidStating that the economy and children’s education were at the heart of difficult decisions made during the pandemic.
Sunak, who resigned from Johnson’s government last month, suggested schools could remain open during the pandemic. He said during a meeting he tried to raise his voice against the closure of schools and said he was “very passionate about it”.
“Afterwards there was a great silence,” he said. “It was the first time anyone had said this. I was so angry.”