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Not all jobs could be saved during the COVID-19 pandemic but the government prevented “mass unemployment”. Rishi Sunak have told covid check.
The former prime minister also said he was advised by medical authorities “not to be too quick” in intervening at the beginning of the pandemic.
Mr Sunak, who was chancellor during the height of the pandemic, stepped into the role in mid-February 2020, giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry.
This is the second time he has appeared before the inquiry – the first in 2023 when it was probing decision-making during the pandemic.
Module 9 of the independent public inquiry is looking at the government’s economic response and has already heard evidence from officials including former business secretary Alok Sharma. Andrew BaileyGovernor of the Bank of England.
Mr Sunak said on Monday: “It will not be possible to save every person’s job and people will face economic hardship as a result of what is happening.
“I thought it was important to be honest with people about this first.
“As it turned out, the impact on living standards, especially for the most vulnerable in society… was stronger than I had anticipated and I’m very proud of that.”
Mr Sunak said the government was “successful in preventing mass unemployment” and the impact on jobs was “much better than anyone predicted in the early stages of the pandemic”.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, known as furlough, was announced by my Mr Sunak in March 2020.
The jobs of approximately 11.7 million workers were eliminated through the scheme, which was in place from 1 March 2020 to 30 September 2021 and cost approximately £70 billion.
The inquiry’s counsel, Richard Wright Casey, said the inquiry found “generally positive evidence” about the impact of the scheme, which has reduced “increases in inequality due to the protection of jobs”.
Mr Sunak said a more targeted version of the furlough scheme was drawn up by the government in 2020 but “never saw the light of day” due to the national lockdown that followed.
He told the inquiry, “I care about trying to find out whether there is a better way to do this – is there a more targeted way that will save us money and help bring economic activity back,” but he concluded that the benefits of such an option would “not outweigh the costs”.
Mr Sunak told the inquiry that preliminary advice treasure Officials were instructed not to intervene too early.
“Especially in those early conversations, the advice that the medical and scientific communities were giving us at the time was not to move too quickly with various interventions, because they were worried about public acceptance,” he told the inquiry.
“Even at that time, the belief was that voluntary social distancing along with school closures… would be enough to control the virus.
“Two or three days later, it was decided that it was not going to be possible, which is why we had to go into full mandatory lockdown.”
A key finding from last month’s Covid inquiry was that the government did not take the virus seriously until it was “too late”, with February 2020 being a “bad month” for action.
Giving more details about the government’s thinking behind the furlough scheme, Mr Sunak said he faced pressure from opposition party members as well as “credible voices” at the time to keep it longer. Trades Union Congress (TUC) and developed nations.
But he said there was a time when keeping the scheme running would do more harm to the economy than stopping it, because it artificially boosts some businesses and jobs that would not otherwise be viable.
Mr Sunak told the inquiry: “If this thing happens again, it is not clear to me that there is anything to be learned from that period that would make it any easier for someone in my position to strike a balance.”
On the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the former Prime Minister said it had challenges, noting that those applying had to self-certify.
But he said it was right to support self-employed people and he would “do it again” if he was in the same situation.