An inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic should be delayed until next year, the outgoing cabinet secretary has suggested – arguing we may only be “halfway” through.
Mark Sedwill said no investigation should take place until “the crisis is over”, despite pressure from medical and scientific experts to learn lessons before a feared second spike in the autumn.
“We don’t even know whether we have reached the halfway point yet, because this is a crisis still rolling around the globe,” he told a parliamentary committee.
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“The time for lessons to be learned is once the crisis is through.”
Sir Mark – who appeared to be forced to quit by Boris Johnson – also insisted ministers “did respond well”, despite criticism of mistakes over testing, equipment and the timing of the lockdown.
He acknowledged controversy over “capabilities”, but argued they predated this Conservative administration, saying: “Those are choices made by many governments over years.”
Sir Mark was ousted last month after a power battle in Downing Street, with his twin jobs – of cabinet secretary and national security adviser – to be split from September.
He denied he was forced to leave, telling MPs and peers: “I haven’t resigned. The prime minister and I agreed I should step down, it was by agreement.”
But he admitted he had been unsettled by anonymous briefings in the media, saying: “It is never pleasant to find oneself, particularly as an official, in the midst of stories of that kind.
“We appear to be in an era where some of us are fair game in the media and I’m afraid it goes with the territory now. I guess my successors will have to deal with some of that as well.”
Sir Mark’s replacement as security adviser by David Frost – a key Johnson ally, who lacks experience in intelligence – has been fiercely criticised by Theresa May and others.
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But he told the joint national security strategy committee that Mr Frost was “a very experienced diplomat”, who could speak “authentically and with authority”.
A letter from leading scientists, last month, urged Mr Johnson to set up an inquiry into the pandemic now, warning: “Many more will die unless we find quick, practical solutions.”
They pointed to “fragmentation” in health response, a “failure” to work with local government and devolved nations, weaknesses in channelling scientific evidence into policy and an “inability” to procure vital goods and services.
Meanwhile, a petition for an inquiry drawn up by a group of bereaved families – alleging ministers are trying to cover up failings – has passed 100,000 signatures.
But Sir Mark insisted: “At every stage, we sought to provide ministers with full suite of evidence that was available to us.”
And he argued it was too soon to judge whether the UK had failed where other countries had succeeded, despite the official death toll topping 50,000 – the highest in Europe.
“We don’t know if we fared worse,” he told the committee, pointing to density of population, demographics, obesity and other medical conditions as factors and adding: “We don’t know the eventual outcome.”
