Jeremy Hunt apologises for pandemic ‘groupthink’

Jeremy Hunt has apologised “unreservedly” to the families of people who died due to Covid-19, after an inquiry found there were significant flaws in the government’s preparations for a pandemic.

The former Conservative chancellor – who was also the UK’s longest-serving health secretary – admitted to being part of “groupthink” among officials over pandemic policy.

He told the BBC that the government had “over-prepared” for a flu pandemic, but “didn’t think of other types of pandemic”.

On Thursday, an initial report from the Covid inquiry found that “groupthink” – when a group of people reach a consensus without thinking critically about alternatives – led officials to plan for the “wrong” pandemic.

Baroness Hallett, who chairs the inquiry, said the government’s sole pandemic strategy from 2011 “was outdated and lacked adaptability”.

She wrote that the flaws in preparation meant the emergency of Covid-19 – a coronavirus like Sars or Mers, not an influenza virus – caused a greater number of deaths and more economic damage than it should have.

Mr Hunt told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he was one of “many ministers, many officials, many scientists” who had reached the same presumption, adding: “We should have challenged that groupthink.”

Baroness Hallett’s report also criticised the “labyrinthine” government bureaucracy in place for responding to pandemics.

She recommended simplifying these official structures, as well as bringing in external experts to challenge civil service thinking and creating an independent statutory body responsible for pandemic preparedness.

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The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group welcomed the findings of the report, but argued that it did not fully address underlying issues of inequality and public health service capacity which exacerbated the crisis.

Mr Hunt, now the shadow chancellor, said: “I apologise unreservedly to the families – that was the most terrible tragedy, what happened to this country during Covid.

“And I think, by the way, the report has some very sensible recommendations, including simplifying the structures for preparing for these kinds of emergencies.

“I very much hope the government adopts them.”

After the report was released, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it showed the country was “under-prepared for Covid-19”.

He added that his government was committed to “putting better measures in place to protect and prepare us from the impact of any future pandemic”.