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Rishi Sunak acknowledged that during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was impossible to save every job. However, he emphasized that the government managed to avoid a large-scale unemployment crisis. Speaking as the former chancellor and prime minister, Sunak reflected that the pandemic’s impact on employment was far less severe than initially predicted. He pointed out that there was no established guide on how to manage the economic fallout from such an unprecedented health crisis, and the government had to navigate uncharted territory without a clear playbook.
During his testimony to the public inquiry on the pandemic, Sunak described the early phase of the crisis as marked by significant uncertainty. Policymakers and experts were unsure about the virus’s duration, severity, and how the population would respond to government-imposed restrictions. “There was not a toolkit, there was not a playbook that you could pull off the shelf that said this is how you tend to deal with pandemics,” he said, highlighting the uniqueness of the situation compared to previous economic or financial shocks. In recent weeks, the inquiry has been focusing on the government’s economic response, hearing from various officials and experts.
Sunak recounted that when the crisis first emerged, policymakers prioritized rapid action to protect workers and businesses, even if that meant accepting that not every decision would be perfect. “We could not let perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said, stressing the importance of swift intervention. One of the government’s main aims was to prevent widespread job losses. While it wasn’t possible to protect every individual’s employment, Sunak expressed pride that the overall impact on living standards, particularly for the most vulnerable, was better than he had expected. The furlough scheme, or coronavirus job retention scheme, announced in March 2020 under his leadership, was central to this effort.
In addition to discussing economic measures, Sunak revealed that medical advice at the onset of the pandemic cautioned against acting too early, due to concerns about public acceptance of restrictions. He defended the furlough scheme, explaining that while the government considered a more targeted approach known as the Jobs Support Scheme, it never came into effect because of subsequent lockdowns. Though the scheme faced some criticism regarding its duration, Sunak maintained that the government’s decisions were balanced given the circumstances and argued that hindsight should be approached with caution. He also addressed support for self-employed workers, acknowledging the challenges but affirming that providing assistance was the right decision and something he would repeat if faced with the same situation
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