We must have a full pandemic inquiry

WE need a full public inquiry about the pandemic, there’s no question about that. Look at the revelations coming out of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. This appalling fire caused 72 deaths, and we have learned some crucial things from the inquiry.

Over 105,000 people have died in this pandemic, so we must have a full public inquiry.

Mistakes were made by the Government at the start – we went into lockdown too late, in February the Prime Minister was shaking the hands of people who had the virus and so was probably spreading it on, we didn’t have enough proper PPE and we didn’t have enough nurses and doctors, etc, etc. Bad mistakes were made.

We saw the Government’s main adviser Dominic Cummings drive to Barnard Castle in breach of lockdown rules “to test my eyesight”. Pull the other one!

The Government’s Eat Out to

Help Out scheme sounded good but actually helped spread the virus.

Ten to 15% of new infections arose because of this. Boris Johnson said we were out of the woods but he was badly wrong. The virus changed, as experts had always said it would, and we had the new versions.

In addition to a national public inquiry, we need a local one for Bristol, too. Over 450 people have died in Bristol from the virus, with countless more harmed by it. That is many times the number killed and injured at Grenfell.

Bristol and all other areas should have their own public inquiries, so that we, the public, can know the truth of this event. The Government has nothing to hide from public inquiries if it has done all it could.

The public deserve the full truth of the UK’s pandemic response to come out into the open. We owe this to the victims, and also to reveal the quiet heroism of our NHS staff and the patient excellence of our local scientists.

John Smith Bristol