Austerity ministers must be 'taken to task' in Covid Inquiry on 'unprepared' NHS
David Cameron, George Osborne and Jeremy Hunt must all be “taken to task” over how austerity left the NHS struggling to cope with the pandemic, doctors have demanded.
The Tory trio will face questions about the impacts of swingeing cuts on public services as they are hauled before the Covid Inquiry into the crisis this week.
Unions have also warned the architects of austerity have "serious questions to answer".
Mr Cameron, who led the Tories between 2010 and 2016, will appear today before his former Chancellor Mr Osborne takes the stand on Tuesday.
The following day the then-Health Secretary who is now at the heart of Rishi Sunak's Government as Chancellor, will be quizzed by Baroness Heather Hallett's inquiry.
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Ahead of the hearings the British Medical Association said the health service was operating without enough staff or beds as the virus surged across the country.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will appear at the Inquiry on Wednesday (PA)BMA council chair Professor Philip Banfield said there was “no doubt” patients were “put in harm’s way because of this historic under-staffing and under-resourcing".
The consultant obstetrician of more than 30 years said: "I have seen first-hand the damage wrought by years of austerity and a failure to prioritise the nation’s health.
"The UK was severely on the back foot when Covid took hold, and this proved disastrous - for the doctors I represent and the millions who suffered at the hands of the virus."
The BMA highlighted that between 2010-2011 and 2019-2020 the average daily total of available beds contracted by 8.3% - almost 13,000 beds.
Professor Philip added: "It is therefore critical that Cameron, Osborne and Hunt are taken to task over the decisions they made that left us so unprepared, and to ensure the same mistakes are not repeated when we face our next health emergency."
Since leaving Government Mr Cameron is said to have raked in millions from his advisory role at the collapsed finance group Greensill Capital, after dinner talks and his memoirs.
Ex-Chancellor Mr Osborne - now Chair of the British Museum - also became editor of the Evening Standard after leaving Government in 2016 and advised investment firm BlackRock.
The Trades Union Congress said the pair should answer questions on cuts to social security, underfunding public services, and real-terms pay cuts.
General Secretary of the TUC Paul Nowak said: “David Cameron and George Osborne have serious questions to answer.
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“Make no mistake, austerity was a political choice – and one that left the UK hugely exposed to the pandemic. “Their policies weakened the foundations of our society by hollowing out our public services and shredding our safety net.
He added: “Cameron and Osborne imposed brutal – and unnecessary – spending cuts in the face of widespread opposition and warnings from experts.
"And for what? They spectacularly failed to deliver on their promises of stable public finances and strong economic growth.
Chair of the Covid Inquiry Baroness Heather Hallett (PA)“Many other countries took a different approach – protecting public services and using public investment to achieve stronger economies and fairer societies. If the UK had followed the same path, we would have been much better prepared when the pandemic hit."
In the first grilling of senior politicians since the Covid inquiry kicked off the figures are also expected to be quizzed on the Government's pandemic planning operations.
The inquiry could examine Exercise Cygnus - the codename given to a 2016 cross-government simulation to war-game a major flu outbreak.
In the first sessions last week, the lead counsel for the probe, Hugo Keith KC, said Britain "might not have been very well prepared at all" for the pandemic.
But he said the nation was "taken by surprise" by many aspects as planning had focused on a future flu pandemic, leaving the UK unprepared for mass testing or non-flu medicines.
A lawyer for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) also admitted that Covid restrictions caused "profound loneliness, pain and anguish” to many Brits.
In the UK Government’s first evidence to the Inquiry, Fiona Scolding KC said the department faced an array of "unpalatable options" and compared the pandemic to an "all-consuming period akin to a war".
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