George Osborne destroyed Britain’s safety net. The Covid inquiry should shame him into silence | Polly Toynbee

The government set up the Covid inquiry, ordained its wide remit, gave its chair legal powers to command whatever evidence she deems necessary, but then balked at obeying it.

Is Dominic Cummings right that Boris Johnson said “ let the bodies pile high?” Other forms of callous cynicism may be exposed if we discover that ministers knew “eat out to help out” was a plague spreader and put the economy before safety.

The devastation they caused from their first, June 2010, budget set the pace for a period of austerity more savage than anything attempted by Margaret Thatcher, whose face had adorned their walls as students.

Sally Warren, director of policy at the King’s Fund health thinktank, watched it happen from within government: she points to fewer beds, training cuts, ballooning staff vacancies, shortages of equipment and tech support, and the axing of capital for repairs.

Improvements in life expectancy stalled in the 2010s and Covid made the weakest iller.” This was due to “lack of early diagnosis”, but also “the state of housing, air quality, people’s diet.

Your income, your environment, your exposure to advertising and lack of physical activity affected resilience.” The government’s failure to challenge food manufacturers over salt and sugar helped increase child obesity.