The UK was better able to handle the financial pressures of the pandemic, according to former Chancellor George Osborne, because of his spending cuts.
He claimed that Britain would have been "more exposed" in the absence of austerity while testifying at the Covid Inquiry.
In advance of the Covid pandemic, he denied accusations that his strategy "depleted" the health and social care systems.
The investigation focuses on the UK's resilience and readiness for the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, witnesses have included former prime minister David Cameron and senior minister Sir Oliver Letwin.
The UK had "depleted" public services when it entered the pandemic, Sir Michael Marmot, a professor of epidemiology at University College London, told the inquiry last week.
When asked if he agreed with the assertion, Mr. Osborne responded, "Most definitely not, I completely reject that," to inquiry lawyer Kate Blackwell KC. ".
He acknowledged that more money could have been allocated to the NHS, but in his capacity as chancellor, he said he had to balance that demand with the needs of other public services.
He responded to the inquiry by saying, "You can't just say we like higher government spending without explaining where you get your money from.".
He claimed that despite the party's plans to reduce public spending, voters chose the Conservatives to lead the country in 2010 and 2015.
Cuts were made to the welfare budget, school construction plans, local government, police, courts, and prisons during this time. Spending on healthcare was also generally constrained.
The former chancellor of Britain, Mr. Osborne, who served in that position from 2010 to 2016, stated: "Had we not done that, Britain would have been more exposed—not just to future events like the coronavirus pandemic, but also to the fiscal crisis that very quickly followed in countries all over Europe.
Because we wouldn't have had the financial room to respond to the coronavirus pandemic when it struck if we hadn't had a clear plan to put the public finances on a sustainable path, Britain might have gone through a fiscal crisis. " .
Other organizations have disputed this assertion. The British Medical Association's Phil Banfield claimed in a blog post that the NHS was understaffed and underfunded in the decade before the pandemic, which left the system unable to handle the tsunami of demand when it did. " .
Mr. Osborne was also questioned about the Treasury's preparations for a potential nationwide lockdown during the one hour and 20 minute question period.
Although he added, "given what subsequently occurred, that was very small scale," he stated that the department had plans for an influenza outbreak.
"Treasury, or any western Treasury, had not planned on ordering the entire populace to stay indoors for endless months.
"I have no doubt that the Treasury would have developed the programs it did subsequently develop around the furlough and the Covid loans if someone had told you that the UK government should be preparing for a lockdown that could last for months.
Planning for a furlough scheme could have been done beforehand, but I'm not sure whether it would have produced a better furlough scheme than the one our nation actually witnessed.
Earlier in the day, Sir Oliver Letwin, a senior minister in David Cameron's administration, testified before the inquiry that the government's capacity to prepare for pandemics was hampered by a high staff turnover rate.
He referred to it as "disastrous for the country" that the civil service relied on people changing jobs rather than gaining expertise in things like resilience.
In addition, he expressed "great regret" for not participating more in pandemic preparations during the hearing.
Even though he claimed to have been informed that the area was being "well-looked after," he believed that if he had looked into the matter further, he could have forced authorities to make preparations for pandemics other than the flu.
"I actually should have done that, and my failure to do so will cause me ongoing regret. ".
Mr. Cameron said to the same inquiry on Monday that it had been a "failure" to prepare for a variety of different pandemics.
