Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Questions will be asked and lessons learned after Boris Johnson announces public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Spring 2022, an independent public inquiry will be held by the Government to analyse the handling of the pandemic.
After more than 127,000 lives have been lost after 28 days of receiving a positive test result, the PM believes that, “amid such tragedy the state has an obligation to examine it’s actions as rigorously and as candidly as possible.”
Public Inquiries
Public inquiries usually respond to public concerns stemming from an event or series of events.
An inquiry of this nature, however, will examine the events of the past year by asking three major questions:
- What happened?
- Why did it happen and who was to blame?
- What can be done to prevent this from happening again?
Boris Johnson said: “This inquiry must be able to look at the events of the last year in the cold light of day and identify the key issues that will make a difference for the future.”
“some have questioned why this could not happen sooner.”
Is Spring 2022 a detrimental delay?
Although the inquiry has been welcomed amongst the Government, some have questioned why this could not happen sooner.
Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer said: “I understand a statutory inquiry will take time to set up, but why could it not be later this year? Why could it not start earlier?”
Responding to this, the Prime Minister said: “I think the House will agree that it would not be right to devote the time of people who are looking after us, who are saving lives, to an inquiry before we can be absolutely, much more certain than we are now that the pandemic is behind us.”
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Coronavirus claimed this delay would, “prolong the pain being felt by grieving families and means vital lessons will go unlearned.”
Importance
The threat of new variants and winter 2021 highlight the importance of this inquiry in learning what should and could have been done.
Boris Johnson also highlighted how: “The end of the lockdown is not the end of the pandemic.”
The emphasis of this inquiry will be on what can be done in the response and prevention of future pandemics. But with no time limit on how long the inquiry will last, finer details will be aunnounced closer the time.
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