Preparations for a no-deal Brexit made the UK government “match fit” for the pandemic, Michael Gove has told the Covid inquiry
Lady Hallett has heard evidence from several witnesses claiming that planning for no-deal, which was codenamed Operation Yellowhammer, diverted staff and resources inside Government in the 18 months before the virus broke out in January 2020.
Civil servants “honed and refined” these crisis skills as under Operation Yellowhammer, the Cabinet minister told Lady Hallett. The inquiry has also heard how a board overseeing Exercise Cygnus, the planning for a flu pandemic, did not meet while Operation Yellowhammer was underway. Asked by Kate Blackwell, KC for the inquiry, whether the diversion of workforce to no-deal meant there was a “detrimental effect” on planning for a pandemic, Mr Gove said: “I haven’t yet seen any activity that has been identified that would have enabled us to significantly better deal with the Covid-19 pandemic that did not occur as a direct result of EU exit.”
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