The government should apologise to children for the damaging mistakes and policy errors it committed during the pandemic, the former children’s commissioner for England has told the Covid-19 inquiry.
Giving evidence to the inquiry’s public hearing on Thursday, Anne Longfield said a “doom loop” of fatalism among ministers meant the government failed to do more to help children. She argued that the prolonged lockdowns and school closures were responsible for the explosion in mental health, welfare and behaviour difficulties still being experienced by children and young people.
