Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Lord Sumption for his time. With regard to Dr. Buquicchio's point and in terms of Lord Sumption's earlier comments on the health or hysteria analysis of where we are and how the pandemic has been treated here or in any other jurisdiction, I agree with Dr. Buquicchio's point about reviewing and analysing the response of all national governments and, indeed, the international response to this pandemic. I turn to the earlier comments about the need for primary legislation to be in place to support those guidelines, or the secondary legislation that we are governed by in the current space.

I note that the UK had the Coronavirus Act 2020 and the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 among others, to which to refer. In the context of a future pandemic similar to what we are experiencing today, what would need to happen to underpin the guidelines? Is the witness suggesting a brand new Act or legislation?

We touched on Brexit earlier and I presume Lord Sumption expected that it would be mentioned on this call. In the event of a future pandemic and in the context of travel, which was mentioned earlier, what impact will Brexit have on the UK in terms of its relationship with Europe and the wider world?