Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has defended the government’s economic response during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the furlough program, which he introduced as Chancellor. Appearing before the official pandemic inquiry, Sunak acknowledged that it was impossible to preserve every job but maintained that the initiative successfully prevented widespread unemployment. He noted that the crisis presented unprecedented uncertainty, with no established framework for managing such a global health and economic shock.
Sunak emphasized that speed was essential, stating, “We could not let perfect be the enemy of the good. We had to get things out fast.” The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, launched in March 2020, provided wage support to employers, helping sustain millions of positions. He expressed pride in how living standards, especially for vulnerable groups, held up better than initially expected.
At the time, policymakers faced unknowns about the virus’s duration, transmission, and public compliance with restrictions. Sunak reiterated that there was no pre-existing playbook for handling a pandemic of this scale, unlike financial or economic crises with historical precedents. His testimony marks his second appearance before the inquiry, having previously testified in December 2023 while still in office.
The inquiry has previously found that the UK government did not take sufficient action in February 2020, labeling it a “lost month.” Nonetheless, Sunak highlighted the Treasury’s recognition that immediate action was needed, even if imperfect, to stabilize the economy and protect livelihoods. He also stood by other measures like the Eat Out to Help Out campaign, aimed at reviving hospitality businesses after lockdowns.
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Furlough not perfect but prevented mass unemployment, Sunak says
Rishi Sunak has said not all jobs could be saved during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the government was able to prevent mass unemployment. n nThe former prime minister, who was chancellor at the time, said it “wasn ‘t going to be possible to save every person ‘s job”. n nBut he said the government was “successful in preventing mass unemployment” and the impact of the pandemic on employment was “considerably better than what anyone had forecast at the early stages of the pandemic”. n nSunak also said there was “not a playbook” to deal with the economic shock caused by Covid, with ministers “dealing with something no one had dealt with before”. n nThe former PM was giving evidence to the public inquiry into the pandemic on Monday, answering questions on the policies he set out to support workers ‘ incomes and keep businesses afloat. n nHe said that at the outbreak of the crisis, there was an “enormous amount of uncertainty”, with policymakers and experts unsure of the scale and duration of the virus and how the population would respond to any measures imposed by the government. n n”There was not a toolkit, there was not a playbook that you could pull of the shelf that said this is how you tend to deal with pandemics in the same way you somewhat have with other economic shocks or financial shocks,” he said. n nOver the past three weeks, the inquiry has been delving into the economic response to the pandemic, hearing from former ministers, treasury officials and central bankers. n nA key finding from the Covid inquiry last month was that the government did not take the virus seriously enough until it was “too late”, with February 2020 a “lost month” for action. n nSunak ‘s appearance on Monday was the second time he has taken the stand, after previously giving evidence in December 2023 when he was still prime minister. n nHe was appointed chancellor of Boris Johnson ‘s government on 13 February, and was preparing to present a Budget before the pandemic hit UK shores and the country was put into lockdown a month later. n nSunak told the inquiry that one of his priorities was to prevent mass unemployment and said “speed was paramount” in the government ‘s response. n nHe said there was an “acknowledgement” in the Treasury that they were not going to “get everything right straight away”. n n”We could not let perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said. “We had to get things out fast.” n nSunak said it was not possible “to save every person ‘s job”, but said that “as it turned out, the impact on living standards particularly for the most vulnerable in society… were stronger that I would have perhaps anticipated going into this and I ‘m very proud of that”. n nThe coronavirus job retention scheme, known as furlough, was announced by Sunak in March 2020. n nAt his previous appearance in front of the inquiry, Sunak defended his Eat Out to Help Out policy, which was one of the government ‘s policy measures aimed to support businesses reopening after the first lockdown.