Watch Lord Gus O'Donnell's Annual Lecture above, or read an extended version by clicking here.


In this lecture Gus O’Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary to three Prime Ministers and head of the Civil Service, will look at possible lessons from the relatively poor performance of the UK, in responding to the Covid crisis, on both health and economic dimensions.

He will consider what we might already be able to learn about handling crises that, while being driven by a health issue, are managed by measures that involve strong behavioural and economic responses. He will argue that government should have been guided more strongly by economic and social scientific advice, alongside medical advice. If it had been, both the health and economic consequences of the pandemic could have been less severe.