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Covid inquiry: Sunak defends keeping Eat Out to Help Out from SAGE [1]
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Date: 2023-12
Rishi Sunak has defended the decision not to consult with scientists before announcing the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, claiming it was a “micropolicy”.
Giving evidence at the official Covid inquiry today, the UK prime minister was challenged on why he did not seek advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) before going forward with a scheme that increased the likelihood of indoor socialising.
“Why, in light of the obvious issue of risk of transmission inherent in any scheme that encouraged households to come together, did the Treasury not consult with SAGE, the CMO [chief medical officer], the secretary of state for health, or anybody else outside Number 10?” counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith asked.
Sunak, who was chancellor in 2020, defended the decision, claiming that it was part of a package – opening up hospitality – that had already been run past scientists.
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“Eat Out to Help Out had been designed specifically in the context of the safe lifting of NPIs [non-pharmaceutical interventions] that had already been signed off… which had reopened hospitality, indoor hospitality,” he said.
He said Eat Out to Help Out was “no different” from other guideline changes that had already been discussed with scientists, calling it a “micropolicy”.
As part of discussions over reducing social distancing requirements, Keith said, Sunak would have been warned by SAGE advice that the biggest risks to public health were “indoor hospitality and the prospect of reopening schools”.
Sunak said that it was “normal” that scientists were not consulted on fiscal policies, in the same way that “economic decisions like VAT cut for hospitality or a stamp duty cut or indeed furlough or anything else, or grants for the hospitality industry, wouldn’t ordinarily be cleared with a medical adviser”.
But Eat Out to Help Out “encouraged more people, additional numbers from different households, to come together in restaurants to eat,” argued Keith. “It wasn’t just a fiscal issue. It was a behavioural matter.”
Sunak did not accept when questioned that scientists like Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance would have advised that Eat Out to Help Out was likely to increase transmission. He claimed that the chief medical officer for England and the government’s former chief scientific adviser had had “ample opportunity to raise those concerns between the announcement of the scheme and its implementation”.
There was just under a month between the announcement and implementation of Eat Out to Help Out.
The inquiry has already heard that no scientists were present at any of the meetings on Eat Out to Help Out, and that some scientists heard about it for the first time on TV.
Angela Maclean, who is now the government’s chief scientific adviser and was part of SAGE in 2020, has previously said that she would have asked Sunak: “Can you not find another way to stimulate the economy?” – but was not asked for advice.
The inquiry has also heard that Boris Johnson assumed scientists had been consulted on the policy, and said he did not understand how “something as well publicised as that could have been smuggled past the scientific advice”.
Research has since found a likely link between Eat Out to Help Out and the second wave of the virus in the autumn of 2020. To make matters worse, a 2021 report by the London School of Economics found the policy had only had a “limited effect” on the livelihoods of restaurants and cafes. It also found that there had been “no knock-on benefits to other businesses from people taking advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme”.
Sunak is giving evidence in Paddington while back in Westminster his premiership is being threatened by the fracturing of his flagship Rwanda scheme. Ministers will vote on a new bill tomorrow, which is designed to allow people to be deported to Rwanda under an agreement with the country.
The inquiry continues. openDemocracy is fundraising to pay reporters to cover every day of the public hearings. Please support us by donating here.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/covid-19-inquiry-rishi-sunak-eat-out-to-help-out-sage/
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