Boris Johnson scrapped a team of Cabinet ministers tasked with protecting the UK from a pandemic six months before coronavirus arrived, a Mail investigation has found.
In July 2019, Boris Johnson scrapped a 'pandemic team' just six months before the virus hit the UK, a Mail investigation has learned.
But it was mothballed by former prime minister Theresa May on the advice of Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill so ministers and officials could focus on Brexit.
It was abolished by Mr Johnson days after he entered No10 last July as part of a vow to streamline Whitehall.
Senior MPs Michael Gove (pictured left) and Matt Hancock (right) were part of the Cabinet team tasked with discussing virus control plans.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 41,481 lives in the UK with the nation going into lockdown at the end of March.
The Cabinet Office said: ‘The Government has taken the right steps at the right time to combat this pandemic. »