Kemi Badenoch says ministers focused too much on the pandemic’s health impact rather than economic fall-out
MINISTERS focused too much on the health impact of the pandemic rather than the economic fall-out, the Covid inquiry heard.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the Government should have given more thought to the financial hit to households from the virus.
She also pointed out school absence rates had not returned to pre-pandemic levels — brought on by anxiety and a lack of mental health support as children often struggle to leave home.
Mrs Badenoch said: “I think another area we should have done more on was on the economic impact.
“We were looking very much at the health side and I think that we should have looked at the economic impact of lockdown.
“I think that now you’re seeing many outcomes which are related to, you know, the missing children in schools, for example, what happened to them.”
She also said she was targeted by conspiracy theorists and that the Government “has not got a handle on dealing with misinformation”.
She added: “I don’t think we have adapted to this age of social media where information travels at lightning speed.
“I don’t know how we solve it, but in terms of gaps, I think there is a lesson in the pandemic that this is an area that needs some addressing.”