Watch: Dowden and Hunt give evidence on pandemic preparation to Covid inquiry

Watch as Oliver Dowden and Jeremy Hunt give evidence to the UK’s Covid inquiry on Wednesday 21 June.

Both Mr Hunt, who served as health secretary between 2012 and 2018, and Mr Dowden, were expected to be questioned on whether austerity left the NHS less able to cope when the pandemic hit.

Baroness Heather Hallett, who is chairing the inquiry, is looking into the UK’s preparations for a pandemic.

David Cameron, the former prime minister, gave evidence earlier this week.

He defended austerity as “the right economic policy”, but said it was a “mistake” for his government to focus too heavily on preparations for a flu pandemic rather than one like Covid-19.

“I think it was a mistake not to look more at the range of different types of pandemic,” Mr Cameron said during questioning.

He faced an hour-long grilling as he became the first politician to appear before the official Covid inquiry, with Mr Hunt and Mr Dowden expected to face a similar session.