Shapps: PM deserves huge credit for efforts during pandemic
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says Rishi Sunak deserves "huge credit" for saving jobs and businesses during the pandemic as the prime minister faces a grilling at the Covid Inquiry. Report by Alibhaiz. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 Rishi Sunak, I think, deserves huge credit
00:03 for saving millions of jobs in this country
00:06 through the furlough program and saving millions
00:08 of businesses, including hospitality businesses, which
00:11 otherwise would have gone bust.
00:13 And it's one of the reasons why, despite the fact
00:15 commentators thought we'd be in recession this year,
00:17 our economy has actually been growing this year.
00:20 And that's in no small part because Rishi Sunak,
00:22 as chancellor, did the right things to keep it growing.
00:26 So easy in hindsight, kept in hindsight,
00:30 they'll say all these different things.
00:31 It's why you have an inquiry, to see what else you
00:33 could have done better.
00:34 I mean, I don't know the whereas of every single person's
00:40 WhatsApp message, I'm afraid.
00:41 But I do know that the government's been
00:43 very open with the information.
00:45 We set up the inquiry in the first place.
00:47 We made it independent.
00:48 We provided 50,000 pieces of documents.
00:51 All the key players have been going along
00:53 to the COVID inquiry, right up to and including
00:55 the Prime Minister.