David Cameron was questioned as part of an inquiry into the UK's preparedness for and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ADVERTISEMENTThe UK focused too much on preparing for a possible flu pandemic instead of other potential respiratory outbreaks, according to the country's former prime minister.
David Cameron, who led Britain's government from 2010 to 2016, was the first politician to be questioned as part of an inquiry into the UK's preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UK had one of the highest death tolls in Europe due to COVID-19, with the virus recorded as a cause of death for almost 227,000 people.
Cameron said under oath that during his time in office, officials had been more focused on preventing an influenza outbreak than other respiratory illnesses.
“Much more time was spent on pandemic flu and the dangers of pandemic flu rather than on potential pandemics of other more respiratory diseases like COVID turned out to be," Cameron said.
"I think this is so important because so many consequences followed from that," he added.
He said his government did look at other pandemics, including MERS and SARS.
“I think the failing was not to ask more questions about asymptomatic transmission, highly infectious … what turned out to be the pandemic we had," he added.
Earlier, the British Medical Association, the country's doctors' union, argued that Cameron's austerity policies led to years of damage to public health care and a “failure to prioritize the nation's health.”
“The UK was severely on the back foot when COVID took hold, and this proved disastrous,” said Philip Banfield, chair of council at the union.
But when questioned, Cameron rejected accusations that cutting government spending on public services left the UK more vulnerable to a pandemic.
"If you lose control of your debt and you lose control of your deficit, and you lose control of your economy, you end up cutting the health service," he said.
The UK has faced much criticism over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including over parties held by Downing Street while social gatherings were restricted.
Just last week, a report found that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over his breach of COVID-19 regulations while he was leading the government.
Many senior politicians are expected to face questions as part of the inquiry into the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public hearings are set to be concluded by 2026.
