The government was today accused of a ’smear campaign’ against the Steam Packet in the row over safety procedures in the lead-up to February’s Covid outbreak.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle was called upon to apologise for the way Cabinet Office had handled the issue.

Mr Quayle said mistakes were made on both sides amid confusion over isolation protocols and safety measures for Steam Packet crew. He apologised for government errors but said there were mistakes on both sides.

Bill Shimmins (Middle) accused the government of a ’smear campaign’ against the Steam Packet over initial comments about isolation protocols.

The chief minister said: ’Yes, for the isolation period, I can apologise for statements made but those statements were as a result of evidence given to the Council of Ministers so we genuinely believed that was the case.’

Mr Quayle gave a statement in the House of Keys today, after publication of a report which looked into the lead-up to a Covid outbreak in February that was linked to the Steam Packet.

The company and the government took conflicting positions on rules about the isolation for crews.

The government has accepted the report’s findings, which highlighted mistakes that were made.

Mr Quayle told MHKs: ’It is clear that we didn’t get everything right, and the report confirms that. We weren’t always as joined-up as we should have been and mistakes were made.’