- Written by Kate Whannell
- Political reporter
WATCH: Defending eat out to help out – Rishi Sunak’s day at Covid inquiry
Rishi Sunak has strongly defended his Eat Out To Help Out programme, implemented in summer 2020, saying it prevented “devastating” job losses.
The scheme encouraged people to attend pubs and restaurants by subsidizing meals after lockdown rules were eased.
Mr Sunak said it was introduced after restaurants reopened safely.
He rejected criticism that senior advisers were not consulted, saying they had “ample opportunity” to raise concerns.
In previous hearings of the inquiry, Matt Hancock and Sir Patrick Vallance – the health secretary and the government’s chief scientific adviser during the pandemic – said they were not aware of the Eat Out to Help Out program before it was announced.
The inquest was also told that the chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, referred to the scheme as “eating out to help fight the virus”, and Sir Patrick said it was “very likely” it had led to an increase in deaths.
However, Mr Sunak – who has been Chancellor during the pandemic – strongly backed his decision to introduce the scheme.
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He said it was announced on July 8 and came into effect at the beginning of August, during which time the chief medical officer identified children returning to school and winter as “two major risk moments.”
“He made no mention of eating out to help out,” Mr Sunak said.
He also said it was a “mini-policy” introduced alongside other safety measures such as table-only service, contactless payments and one-way systems.
“This was a very reasonable and sensible policy intervention to help protect those jobs in this safe reopening process.
“I didn’t think it was a risk. I thought it was the right thing to do.”
“All the data, all the evidence, all the polling, all the input from those companies suggests that unless we did something, many of those jobs would have been at risk with dire consequences for those people and their families.”
He added that the evidence “conclusively shows that this was in no way responsible for a second wave.”
Protesters gathered outside the inquest where Mr Sunak was giving evidence
Image source, His Majesty the Treasury
Rishi Sunak served food at Wagamama as part of an Eat Out to Help Out promotional event
Mr Sunak was also asked about claims that the Treasury has been called the “pro-death squad” because of its stance on keeping the hospitality and retail sectors open.
The Prime Minister said this was “not a fair characterization”, adding that the Treasury had worked “very hard” and “done things to save the livelihoods of millions of people”.
He said sectors most affected by the lockdown, such as retail and hospitality, were more likely to employ “the most vulnerable groups in society” such as those on low incomes.
Trying to protect jobs in those areas is a “social justice issue,” he said.
The inquiry also heard criticism about Boris Johnson’s leadership style, with advisers saying he was prone to changing his mind.
However, Mr Sunak defended his former boss, saying his interactions with No 10 “were fine” and that Johnson was right to “review the arguments”.
He added that he was not aware of advisers’ complaints about Johnson’s approach.
Mr Sunak also told the inquiry:
- Increases in the cost of government borrowing in March 2020 caused “enormous concern” at the Treasury
- Boris Johnson saw more of his wife during the early days of the pandemic
- He was not a “prolific user” of WhatsApp and could no longer access messages during the pandemic, having changed his phone “several times” over the past few years.
- The amount the government borrowed during the lockdown led to the current record tax burden “with which we are grappling today”.
- Changes were made to the PPE procurement process that enabled “pace at the expense of the same normal amount of rigor and scrutiny that such approvals would be subject to.”
The Prime Minister began his testimony by saying he was “deeply sorry” to all those who lost loved ones and family members in the pandemic.
He also apologized “to all those who have suffered in different ways throughout the pandemic as a result of the measures that have been taken.”
He added, “It is important that we learn lessons so that we can be better prepared in the future.”
Speaking after the six-hour hearing, Amer Anwar, lead lawyer for Scottish group Covid Bereaved, said: “Rishi Sunak’s one-man mission to shut down the torpedo to gain a competitive advantage has led to the false economy of sacrificing tens of thousands of lives.” To save the economy.
“Today the bereaved of Covid do not accept his empty words of grief.”
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