Covid news - live: Starmer says PM should apologise over ‘damning’ report on handling of pandemic

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UK 'waited too long' to impose COVID-19 lockdown, costing thousands of lives: report

Sir Keir Starmer has called on Boris Johnson to apologise to bereaved families after a critical report on the government’s Covid response was released.

The Labour leader said the report was a “damning indictment” of the Government and thinks that the public Covid inquiry should begin earlier than the planned date of Spring 2022.

The report said mistakes at the start of the Covid pandemic cost lives and the government’s initial policy “one of the most important public health failures” ever in the UK.

The joint inquiry by the Science and Technology Committee and the  Health and Social Care Committee said the UK’s preparation for a pandemic was far too focused on flu and ministers waited too long to push through lockdown measures in early 2020.

Stephen Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister, refused to apologise and insisted the government “did take decisions to move quickly” in the wake of the report’s publication.

Key Points

• Initial response to Covid cost thousands of lives, report finds
• Minister refuses to apologise for failings that ‘cost thousands of lives'
• ‘We know the service was initially ill-prepared for a pandemic’ - NHS Providers
• ‘We have a joke PM’: Cummings renews attack on Johnson over Covid response
• Starmer calls for PM to bring forward Covid public inquiry

[12 October 2021 12:53 · Zoe Tidman]

Full report

If you want to read the full report, called Coronavirus: lessons learned to date, you can find it here:

[12 October 2021 13:02 · Joe Middleton]

[12 October 2021 13:19 · Joe Middleton]

Moderna has no plans to share Covid vaccine recipe, chairman says

Moderna has no plans to share the recipe for its Covid-19 vaccine despite calls from both the UN and the WHO to do so, according to its chairman.

Noubar Afeyan said he believed the best thing the company could do was to increase its supply of vaccines, along with its decision not to enforce patent infringement on its vaccine technology as long as the pandemic lasts.

Afeyan said “we didn’t have to do that” in reference to the patent waiver, but added that it was the “responsible thing to do.”

[12 October 2021 13:25 · Joe Middleton]

‘We have a joke PM’: Dominic Cummings renews attack on Boris Johnson over Covid response

Former No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings has renewed his attack on Boris Johnson in the wake of scathing report into the government’s response to the Covid crisis – calling his ex-boss a “joke prime minister”.

Cummings claimed Johnson thwarted his own attempts to improve emergency planning in Whitehall – and said the system remains “a disaster” 18 months on from the pandemic.

It follows Tuesday’s damning report by the science and health select committees, which found the delay in imposing lockdown ranks among the country’s worst-ever public health failures.

Adam Forrest has the details.

[12 October 2021 13:41 · Joe Middleton]

Sadiq Khan: Covid report is a wake-up call to the Government

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the cross-party report from MPs on the coronavirus pandemic should serve as a “wake-up call” to the Government.

“It’s quite clear that what some of us have been saying for some time has been found to be true, which is the Government was ill-prepared in relation to this pandemic, made mistakes during the course of this pandemic, and many people may have lost their lives as a consequence of that,” he told PA.

“It’s important the Government doesn’t wait for a public inquiry, but learns lessons in real time, and... (makes) sure that this autumn and winter isn’t as bad as last year’s.”

[12 October 2021 13:56 · Joe Middleton]

[12 October 2021 14:11 · Joe Middleton]

Welsh health minister ‘prepared to apologise’ for Covid failings

Wales’ health minister Eluned Morgan has said she is “prepared to apologise” for any failings made by the devolved Government during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Morgan was speaking at a Welsh Government briefing on Tuesday about the country’s vaccination programme when she responded to questions from journalists about the report published by MPs on the UK Government’s coronavirus response.

Asked about the Duchy of Lancaster Stephen Barclay’s refusal to apologise for policy failings that led to deaths, Ms Morgan said: “I never really understood why politicians have such a problem in apologising.

“And so yes, of course I’m prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered during the pandemic.

“This was a new disease that we’ve never seen before. None of us knew how it was going to impact, none of us knew how it was going to spread, none of us had any idea of the fact that it could be spread even without showing any symptoms.

“Of course we had a huge amount to learn and I’m pleased to say that we have learned over the course of the pandemic.

“Of course, we’ve made some mistakes at the beginning of that process because of the lack of information and data, and knowledge that we have now have learned, and of course, I think we have a duty and responsibility to say sorry to people where we’ve made mistakes.”

[12 October 2021 14:29 · Joe Middleton]

Serious errors and delays led to Covid deaths in UK, MPs say

A damning new report from MPs has concluded that serious errors on the part of both the government and its scientific advisors led to tens of thousands of preventable deaths from Covid-19.

The cross-party study found that the government’s policy in early 2020 amounted to a pursuit of herd immunity, despite repeated denials by ministers that this was the case.

The new report concluded that the UK was too focused on a flu-style epidemic prior to 2020 – and hadn’t properly prepared for the threat of a coronavirus.

[12 October 2021 14:44 · Joe Middleton]

Covid ‘caught the world by surprise’, claims Science minister

Science minister George Freeman said the Covid pandemic “caught the world by surprise”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “Everyone knows that this pandemic caught the world by surprise. It’s been the first pandemic a whole generation has faced - it’s still, by the way, not over.

“It’s caught every democracy - every country around the world has been hit hard - and of course when we have the full inquiry that is coming, we will look back properly and see the things that we got right, the things that we got wrong. Lots of countries got things right, lots of countries also got things wrong, there was no perfect experience.”

Asked if the UK Government should apologise, he added: “It’s too early for any proper discussion about blame and fault. This was a biomedical Battle of Britain and I suspect mistakes were made.”

[12 October 2021 15:07 · Joe Middleton]

Independent SAGE calls for scientific community to hold its own inquiry

Independent SAGE is today calling on scientific community to hold its own inquiry into the use of scientific advice by politicians following the parliamentary report into handling of the Covid pandemic.

In a statement responding to the House of Commons report ‘Coronavirus: Lessons Learned to Date’ report, the group of scientists says the Government “failed to learn from other countries”.

It added that the current policies on schools and vaccines for children are “confused, lack transparency and are not following best international practice.”

Professor Martin McKee from Independent SAGE, said “The report confirms many of the concerns that we have been expressing during the pandemic. These concerns were exactly the rationale for forming Independent SAGE in April 2020, at a time when the membership of SAGE and its advice were still secret.

“However, we now need to learn the lessons and look forward. We are calling for full implementation of the Report’s findings, a review of the use of evidence by the UK’s scientific community and increased transparency of advice to government and, in particular, from the JCVI.”