David Cameron heckled as he leaves COVID inquiry

David Cameron was heckled with shouts of “shame on you” as he left the COVID inquiry after giving evidence.

The former prime minister was questioned for more than two hours on Monday on how prepared the government was for a pandemic during his time in office.

But as he left the hearing in London and the next witness was sworn in, a member of the public shouted: “Have you damaged the reputation of the Tory Party?”

Another shouted quickly after: “Shame on you.”

David Cameron admits ‘failing’ in preparing for pandemic – COVID Inquiry latest

Mr Cameron finished his evidence by saying he was “desperately sorry about the loss of life” in the UK during the pandemic.

“I’ve tried to be as frank as I can and as open as I can about the things my government did that helped… but I’ve also tried to be frank about the things that were missed,” he told the inquiry.

The inquiry, which is set to last until 2026, is in its second week.

George Osborne, who was chancellor in Mr Cameron’s government, will give evidence on Tuesday.

Cameron denies austerity to blame

Mr Cameron was asked whether health inequalities increased during his time in office. He said the figures didn’t necessarily back the idea that austerity was to blame.

His critics have argued his government’s policies decimated the national health services.

The unions federation said the ex-prime minister and George Osbourne, the chancellor at the time (who is testifying tomorrow), ignored warnings about the impact of austerity on the UK’s preparedness, and instead “pushed millions into poverty”.

“We had some very difficult winters with very bad flu pandemics; I think that had an effect. We had the effect that the improvements in cardiovascular disease, the big benefits that already come through before that period, and that was tailing off,” Mr Cameron told the inquiry.

“And then you’ve got the evidence from other countries. I mean, Greece and Spain had far more austerity, brutal cuts, and yet their life expectancy went up. So I don’t think it follows.”

The former prime minister added that child poverty, and the number of people, including the number of pensioners, living in poverty all “went down” and insisted that many of his government’s policies were about “lifting people out of poverty”.

‘Desperately sorry’

Cameron denied he left the government unprepared when he stepped down from office in 2016, but he did say it was a “mistake not to look more at the range of different types of pandemic”.

He pointed to the National Risk Register and the National Security Secretariat.

“We did more than many to try and scan the horizon, to try and plan. We did act on Ebola, we did carry out these exercises, we did try to change some of the international dynamics of these things,” he said.

He concluded his evidence by saying he was “desperately sorry about the loss of life” during the pandemic.