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Sir Lawrence Freedman attacks 'lacklustre' government response to coronavirus

The Chilcot Inquiry panellist said the government made errors during a 'critical' week in March

May 12, 2020 11:32
Sir Lawrence Freedman
1 min read

Chilcot Inquiry panellist Sir Lawrence Freedman has criticised the UK government's response to coronavirus as "lacklustre", adding that it was influenced by a sense that the swine flu scare had been overplayed. 

Sir Lawrence - Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London  - also claimed Prime Minister Boris Johnson "under-estimated the speed'' at which covid-19 would hit the UK.

He added that in the critical week that began on March 9, "we started believing there was time and everything got held up because there was a budget - and a lot of other governments were doing things we weren't doing.''

Speaking on BBC Newsnight  on Monday, Sir Lawrence said in response to a question from presenter Emily Maitlis about whether a Chilcot-type inquiry was appropriate, "There are lots of lessons that need to be sorted out that can't wait for a public inquiry''.