Mr Gove defended the Eat Out to Help Out scheme on Sky Morning with Trevor Phillips
Michael Gove has defended Rishi Sunak's Eating Out relief plan as the Prime Minister prepares to face a Covid inquiry on Monday.
The scheme Mr Sunak introduced while chancellor included discounts of up to 50 per cent on restaurant meals lunches in the summer of 2020, when hospitality establishments reopened after the first lockdown.
Sir Patrick Vallance, who was chief scientific adviser at the time, told an inquiry last month that “eating out to help out” was “highly likely” to have led to an increase in Covid deaths in the UK.
This prompted another adviser to call Mr Sunak “Dr Death the Chancellor” and Professor Sir Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, is said to have called the initiative “Eat out to help beat the virus”.
Asked about Sir Patrick's remarks, Mr Gove told Sky's Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “That is Sir Patrick's point of view and I have huge respect for Sir Patrick, who worked closely with him.”“However, I think it is important to say that the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was announced a month in advance. There was no public criticism of this in the period before the announcement or after its implementation.
Support for the hospitality industry
“This was an effective way of providing support for the hospitality industry during a very difficult period, and it was fully consistent with the general rules of social interaction, which prevailed at that time.”
Pressed on whether the Aid Action could actually be responsible for the rise in Covid deaths, Mr Gove insisted he would not “prejudice” any potential findings of the inquiry.
“One of the things about Covid is that eminent scientists have come to different conclusions at different times about the effectiveness of certain policies,” he added.
“I don’t want to criticize them, quite the opposite. This is to emphasize that “science” is not a monolithic body of unchanging truths. This is an evolving response to a virus, a new virus that has devastated lives around the world.”
Eat Out to Help Out, offering diners 50 percent off food and soft drinks on Mondays. to Wednesday, with a cap of £10 per head – ending up costing taxpayers £849 million, well above the Treasury's original £500 million forecast.
The Treasury ignored the warning
Last month, The Telegraph reported that Mr Sunak's team at the Treasury had ignored Oxford University research which said reopening restaurants “makes no economic sense” as it would lead to a rise in deaths with minimal impact on employment.< /p>
Messages obtained by The Telegraph as part of The Lockdown Files investigation in March revealed that “Eating out to help out” was ridiculed by Matt Hancock, the then health secretary, who called it “Eating out to help the virus spread.”
The scheme was defended by Mr Sunak, who was more skeptical about restrictions than some of his cabinet colleagues.
In October 2020 he played down the link between Eat Out to Help ” and the rise in positive Covid tests and warned against “jumping to conclusions.”
“Whether it's France or Spain, where our scientists have said very specifically that we are following exactly the same curve,” he said . while. “So it's really more a feature of the virus and the season than anything specific.”
Downing Street has confirmed that Mr Sunak will spend this weekend working in Downing Street rather than Chequerse, the prime minister's residence.
Asked about the details of his preparations on Friday, a No 10 spokesman told reporters: “He will be answering questions from the investigation. Although I am not aware of the details of this, I am confident that he will make sure that he is ready to do this on Monday.”
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