Chaired by crossbench peer Heather Hallett, the inquiry pointed to Britain's preparations for a no-deal Brexit, which were taking place around the time of a major government training exercise on responding to an influenza pandemic.

After the training operation named "Exercise Cygnus" in 2016, 22 recommendations were made to improve the U.K.'s response to a pandemic. Just eight of these were completed by June 2020, six months after the pandemic began and the inquiry cites the competing demands of no-deal Brexit planning as a reason for this "inaction."

Other avenues of preparation for potential pandemics were also paused due to "Operation Yellowhammer," the codename for Whitehall's contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit.

The existence of the Yellowhammer operation was leaked in 2018. It covered actions to be taken if Britain had crashed out of the European Union without a deal, identifying areas of risk.

"Several witnesses from the U.K. government and devolved administrations told the inquiry that a number of workstreams for pandemic preparedness were paused due to a reallocation of resources to Operation Yellowhammer," the report states.

Elsewhere, the inquiry pointed to "several significant flaws" in the U.K.'s systems of building preparedness, including an "outdated" strategy, a failure to account for "pre-existing health and societal inequalities and deprivation" and a "lack of adequate leadership."

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Brexit hit UKs pandemic response, Covid inquiry finds - POLITICO Europe

I was wondering when Brexit would come up. It has already and I am pleased to confirm the Brexit reversal idea is dead and finally buried.

Not In His Lifetime

[Via Eurointelligence] Already assured of victory at todays general election in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer has started to make manifesto pledges for beyond 2029. Yesterday he said that the UK would not rejoin the EU within his lifetime, nor would it try to become an associate member of the single market or the customs union.

We are not surprised, except that the issue came up so early. The reason to shut this down right now and as conclusively as he did is that keeping the door open for the future has policy consequences today.

To rejoin even in the medium-distant future would have required him to start closing the massive regulatory gap that has opened since Brexit almost immediately. Most of that gap was due to divergence by the EU itself. The UK did not mirror the 50 or so laws of the Green agenda. It adopted the data protection regulation GDPR in the last decade, and maintains its own version to this day. But the UK does not have the EUs digital markets act, or EU regulation on AI and cryptocurrencies. Nor does have regulation on what is euphemistically called corporate social responsibility making companies liable for human rights violations in their supply chains. For the UK to rejoin the EU even during a second term would require such a high degree of regulatory convergence that it would dominate all other policy areas.

We see another reason in the EUs Luddite tendency, its attachment to 20th century technologies and corporatism. We always felt that the undoubtedly large economic gains from goods trade integration need to be set against the opportunity cost of the EUs failure to partake in the 21st century digital economy. The single market, as it is constituted today, is very much a product of 20th century product-focused regulatory thinking.

The Right Decision

Who in their right mind wants to adopt the EUs green agenda? The EUs nannycrat legislation on corporate social responsibility? On digital rights? On cryptocurrencies? On anything the EU does?

Those nostalgic for the EU membership need to address those questions.

Congratulations to Boris Johnson for getting Brexit done. Few believed he would.

His problem was not knowing what to do with Brexit once it happened.

Simultaneous Burial

Its always a mistake to let EU nannycrats set your policy. Thats why Brexit was smart policy even if takes a while to prove that.

Not only did Starmer finally bury EU membership (the Wicked Witch of the East), he buried an even worse customs union idea (the Wicked Witch of the West) in a simultaneous burial.

Congratulations!

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Congratulations U.K. Labour Confirms Brexit Reversal Is Dead and Buried - Mish Talk

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Brexit is now a dirty word after ZERO mention in Kings Speech, claims Lib Dem MP - The Paulding County Progress

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Brexit is now a dirty word after ZERO mention in Kings Speech, claims Lib Dem MP - East Oregonian

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Brexit is now a dirty word after ZERO mention in Kings Speech, claims Lib Dem MP - Delphos Herald