PM declares C-19 public inquiry will ‘produce answers’
THE Government will set up an independent public inquiry with statutory powers into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Boris Johnson said yesterday.
The Prime Minister told MPs the inquiry, which was welcomed by some bereaved families, will begin in spring, 2022, and will place “the state’s actions under the microscope”.
The inquiry will be able to take oral evidence under oath, he said, adding that the state has an obligation “to learn every lesson for the future”.
It comes as a report from the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), said a quicker international response could have stopped the 2019 Covid-19 outbreak in China becoming a global catastrophe.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson outlined the impact of the pandemic so far and added: “Amid such tragedy, the state has an obligation to examine its actions as rigorously and as candidly as possible, and to learn every lesson for the future – which is why I’ve always said, when the time is right, there should be a full and independent inquiry.
“So, I can confirm today that the Government will establish an independent public inquiry on a statutory basis, with full powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 – including the ability to compel the production of all relevant materials and take oral evidence in public under oath.”
Mr Johnson said the 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. It will be “free to scrutinise every document, to hear from all the key players and analyse and learn from the breadth of our response,” he said. “That’s the right way, I think, to get the answers that the people of this country deserve and to ensure that our United Kingdom is better prepared for any future pandemic.”
He added: “I feel personally very, very strongly that this country has been through a trauma like no other. It is absolutely vital for the sake of the bereaved, for the sake of our country, that we should understand exactly what happened. I think we owe it to the country to have as much transparency as we possibly can and we owe it to the country to produce answers in a reasonable timescale.”
Even without the prospect of a deadly new variant which could escape vaccines currently being used, the Prime Minister told MPs there was a “high likelihood” of a seasonal surge in coronavirus cases in the winter. He said “the end of the lockdown is not the end of the pandemic”.
Mr Johnson warned that “new variants pose a potentially lethal danger, including the one first identified in India which is of increasing concern here in the UK”.