No clear cut case for a September lockdown, says Chancellor Sunak
CHANCELLOR RISHI Sunak has admitted he was opposed to having a circuit break lockdown in September, insisting there “wasn’t a clear-cut case” for doing so.
Ministers last year were accused of ignoring scientific advice after Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) recommended at a meeting on September 21 that a lockdown should be implemented to slow the spread of Covid-19.
In an interview with ITV’s Robert Peston, the Richmond MP also said that all of the decisions taken are “ultimately” ones that Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes.
Asked whether he would admit to opposing the lockdown recommendation, he said: “Just remember what my job is.
“Everyone’s job in the Cabinet is to provide the Prime Minister with the best advice that they can in their area of expertise. In the same way that you’d expect the Education Secretary to feed in about this on the impact on children’s education and learning.
“And you’d expect me in my job to talk about the impact on people’s jobs and livelihoods and ultimately things that are bad for the economy are bad for our longterm health as well and our ability to fund things like the NHS.
“And those things have to go into the decision. These are difficult decisions to make and it’s why we weigh up all those factors.
“And at the time it wasn’t a clear-cut case.”
Asked about the prospect of a fast economic recovery, the Chancellor said: “I am confident that we’re in a good position to recover strongly.
“And also, in-part to the vaccine rollout, which is proceeding very well and that is enabling us to take these steps to safely reopen our economy over the coming weeks and months.
“And I know as we do that, businesses are raring to go.”
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds criticised Mr Sunak saying that he had called the crisis wrong “at every turn”. “We have it in black and white: he rejected scientific advice on the need for a circuit-breaker to control the virus and save lives – and he’s trying to pin the blame on the Prime Minister.”