from Truss has said she questioned the government’s “draconian” lockdown policy during the pandemic — after rival Rishi Sunak claimed that he had often been a lone voice of opposition to the measures.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs told an audience of Tory party members in Norwich that she felt ministers were “doing too much” during the health crisis.
At the penultimate meeting of the leadership contest hosted by TalkTV, she argued on reflection that the measures had been “draconian” and said she would “never impose a lockdown” as prime minister.
“I did wonder. I mean, I wasn’t on the decision-making committee. There was a specific committee, I think, with the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the Minister of Health,” she said.
In retrospect we did too much. You know it was too draconian
“I think when Covid happened, we were all very shocked. And there was a discussion about what the response should be. And in hindsight, we clearly did too much. You know, it was too draconian.”
It comes after her rival Sunak claimed in a Spectator interview that he was often the sole critic of government decision-making during the pandemic.
“We haven’t talked at all about missed (doctor) appointments, or the backlog in the NHS in a massive way. That was never part of it,” he said.
The meetings were “literally me around that table, just fighting”, which was “incredibly awkward every time”.
When asked about this during the Norwich Hustings, Mr Sunak denied that he tried to “tweet” the decisions at the time when those responsible were faced with “impossible” choices.
He said he had talked about the “lessons we need to learn” from the pandemic.
“This is not to guess the decisions we made at the time, which were extremely difficult for everyone involved,” the former chancellor said.
“Everyone at that time was doing their very best to do what they thought was right for the country. These were impossible decisions. But what I was talking about was that we’ve experienced it now and experienced it, what can we learn from it?”
Mr Sunak faced backlash from scientists after alleging independent experts were given too much power during the pandemic, with concerns about the economic and social impact of lockdowns not being properly considered.
He was one of the key players in the government during the crisis, saying, “If you give all these independent people power, you’re screwed”.
He also claimed that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) edited his minutes to hide dissent.
But members of Sage dismissed Mr Sunak’s characterization of the situation, while former No. 10 insiders described his comments as “just wrong” and “dangerous nonsense”.
Professor Graham Medley, a member of Sage, said: “The government is in power, so if a cabinet member thinks scientific advice was too ’empowered’, that’s a criticism of their colleagues rather than the scientists.
“The Sage meetings were about the science, not the policy options, and the minutes reflect the scientific consensus at the time.”
Another source, advising the government, said that if he had argued against school closures, Mr Sunak would have found “sufficient support” among the group of scientists he appeared to be attacking.
Boris Johnson’s former communications chief Lee Cain rejected the former chancellor’s assessment of the situation, saying he was “just wrong”.
He said: “It would have been morally irresponsible for the government not to implement a lockdown in the spring of 2020 – if not, tens of thousands of people who survived Covid would have died.”
Mr Cain said No. 10, the Treasury and the Ministry of Health and Social Care “meet several times a day and discuss the trade-offs”.
Dominic Cummings, former senior adviser to Mr Johnson, said Mr Sunak’s comments were “dangerous nonsense”.
A spokesperson for No. 10 said: “On every point, ministers made collective decisions, taking into account a wide range of expert advice available at the time to protect public health.”
Ms Truss previously said she was one of the key voices around the cabinet table advocating easing lockdowns.
“I think we’ve gone too far, especially by keeping the schools closed,” she said.
“I have two teenage daughters and I know how hard it was for kids and parents and I wouldn’t be in lockdown again.”