Rishi Sunak clashes with Hugo Keith at Covid inquiry: ‘There is a method to my madness’

Rishi Sunak told off for interrupting Hugo Keith KC: 'There's a method to my madness'Source: Reuters

Transcript

00:00 The Eat Out to Help Out scheme encouraged the coming together of different households in indoor spaces,

00:09 which it did of course in restaurants.

00:12 Why was that plan not put by the Treasury in front of SAGE, in front of the Secretary of State for Health,

00:21 and/or the Chief Medical Officer, for their consideration of the very same issue of the absolute risk of transmission?

00:32 So the first thing to say is why do Eat Out to Help Out at all?

00:37 No, no, no, please. There is a method to my madness.

00:41 I'm asking you why, in light of the obvious issue of risk of transmission inherent in any scheme that encouraged households to come together,

00:52 did the Treasury not consult with SAGE, the CMO, the Secretary of State for Health, or anybody else outside number 10?

01:03 Because Eat Out to Help Out had been designed specifically in the context of the safe lifting of MPIs that had already been signed off,

01:13 as we talked about before, as part of the May plan, which had reopened hospitality.