No-deal Brexit planning made UK ‘more match fit’ to respond to Covid, says Michael Gove
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Planning for no-deal Brexit made the UK “more match fit” to respond to the Covid pandemic, Michael Gove has said.
The veteran Tory, who is now the Levelling Up Secretary, was questioned by the inquiry over his previous roles and pandemic planning.
He said the Civil Service expanded in readiness for departing the EU after being asked by Kate Blackwell KC, counsel to the inquiry, whether staff were overworked.
“The nature, the pace and the intensity of the work undoubtedly placed pressure on individuals and the system, but it also ensured a greater degree of match fitness for what none of us anticipated but what was to come the year after,” said Mr Gove.
“I would argue that the skills acquired, honed and refined during EU exit preparation helped us not only to have an organisational system that was better in dealing with the crisis, but also having a cadre of people who’d been through an intense process that enhanced their ability to respond.
“The preparation for EU exit in and of itself was some of the best preparation that could have been undergone for any future crisis.”
The Exit Operations committee had to work at an “accelerated” tempo because of the EU exit deadline, he said.
“I do believe that it was helpful for all of government to be operating at that pace, because we made government more match fit overall for the terrible events that this inquiry has been set up to look at,” he added.
Asked whether workforce capacity issues resulting from moving staff over to prepare for a no-deal Brexit had a detrimental effect on pandemic planning, Mr Gove said: “No, because I haven’t yet seen any activity that has been identified that would have enabled us to significantly better deal [with the pandemic].”
The MP for Surrey Heath added that the Cabinet Office “did flex rapidly once it was clear what the scale of the pandemic was” in the spring of 2020.
The inquiry continues next week, when the first of six modules will come to an end.
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