The Covid Inquiry Core Participants the Children’s Rights Organisations (Centre for Young Lives, Child Poverty Action Group, Save the Children UK, Just for Kids Law, and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England) have issued a statement following the oral evidence from former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, today.
"The actions of those in power, including the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during the pandemic damaged a generation of children; their health, wellbeing, and future prospects all suffered. The poorest and most vulnerable were frequently ignored and no amount of regret will undo the harm that has been done.
Evidence to this inquiry has clearly shown that consideration of children’s rights was absent from decision-making. There was no clear mechanism to protect their interests, and no voice for them in the room. Decisions were rushed, impact assessments neglected, and their needs assumed to mirror adults’. This must never be allowed to happen again.
Words mean little without real change. We must ensure that in any future crisis, children are not invisible or side-lined, as they were before. It is essential to embed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law to protect children, and for a comprehensive national children’s emergency plan to be created to prevent a repeat of the last five years."