UK did 'too little, too late', leading to thousands more Covid deaths
Deborah Doyle, of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said it was "devastating to think of the lives that could have been saved" under different leadership."We now know that many of our family members would still be alive today if it weren't for the leadership of Boris Johnson and his colleagues."Throughout the pandemic, Boris Johnson put his political reputation ahead of public safety. He pandered to his critics when the UK needed decisive action."Johnson has yet to respond to the findings. But Cummings, who was chief adviser to Boris Johnson at the start of the pandemic, accused the inquiry of a mix of "cover-ups and rewriting history".In a social media post, he said he was offered the chance to respond to the inquiry's findings before the report was released, but declined, declaring it "insider corruption".He said experts "advised us to do almost nothing" and "advised against any serious restrictions" as the country would reach "natural herd immunity" by September.Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government would "carefully consider" the findings and recommendations.He said that improvements have been made in how the government would react to a major crisis, but added: "It is clear that local government and our public services, including the NHS, are under immense pressure and in many cases have not fully recovered from the pandemic."The cost of the pandemic still weighs heavily on the public purse."This is why this government is committed to driving growth in the economy and reform of public services, so that when we face the next crisis, we do so from a position of national resilience."Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey has called for Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch to apologise on behalf of her party as he said the news that the lockdown could have been avoided is "shattering"."This tragedy must never be repeated," he added.
