In response to the Prime Minister’s statement in the House of Commons today, confirming that an independent public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak will take place next spring, Labour’s London Assembly Health Spokesperson, Dr Onkar Sahota AM, said:
“It is positive to finally hear from the Prime Minister that an independent and public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak will take place.
“But for our heroic NHS workforce and families who have lost loved ones to the pandemic, waiting until next spring to get properly started on this is simply not good enough. They need answers sooner.
“There are urgent lessons to be learnt and we already know that the Government was ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic and made a catalogue of errors in its early stages.
“In the interests of transparency, and in the very least, Ministers must urgently come forward to confirm the scope and terms of reference on the inquiry.
The British public will not stand for them dragging their feet”.
ENDS