Britain faces ‘decades of financial risk’ as £370bn pandemic bill mounts

MPs call for immediate inquiry into Covid response to learn the lessons of what went wrong

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Taxpayers will be left facing significant financial risk for decades to come" because of the levels of emergency government spending on the pandemic, totalling more than 370bn, a powerful committee of MPs says today.

In two separate reports, the all-party public accounts committee (PAC) paints a daunting picture of the lasting financial strain caused by the first 16 months of combating Covid-19, and says the government must not wait until after the official inquiry to learn the lessons of what went wrong.