Top civil servant says focus on Brexit put UK on ‘back foot’ at beginning of Covid pandemic

Helen MacNamara has suggested the government’s focus on Brexit ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the matters that put the UK on the “back foot”.

The former top civil servant also claimed that Boris Johnson’s “monomaniacal focus” was on Britain’s exit from the European Union.

“Everything else could wait until after this question was settled,” Ms MacNamara told the Covid inquiry on Wednesday 1 November.

She was then asked if a focus on Brexit was one of the matters that “contributed to a sense of being on the back foot” at the beginning of the pandemic.

“Yes,” Ms MacNamara replied.