UK’s Pandemic Inquiry Marred by Political Controversy

Tue Jun 13 2023
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London: The investigation into how the UK government handled the coronavirus pandemic was initiated on Tuesday, but there is debate even before the first witness is called.

Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp chats and notebooks must be turned over, according to the inquiry’s chair, retired senior judge Heather Hallett, triggering a legal challenge from his successor Rishi Sunak’s administration.

While Johnson is supposed to favour sharing, Sunak, who served as finance minister during the outbreak, denied making any attempts to obstruct the material. Covid-19 victim’s relatives have also aimed at the investigation, claiming it will be a “farce” without the testimony of grieving families. With over 128,500 fatalities reported by mid-July 2021, the UK saw one of Europe’s highest Covid-19 mortality tolls. The UK’s readiness and resilience in the face of the global health disaster will be the main topics of the investigation’s initial phase.

Established by Johnson in 2021, it would be divided into 6 sections and begin with an opening statement by Hallett, who supervised the coroner’s inquests into the fifty-two people killed in the 7 July 2005, London bombings. It would be followed by a short movie featuring the impact of the pandemic.

The first witnesses to present evidence in person would be the leading epidemiologists Charlotte Hammer and Jimmy Whitworth on Wednesday.

Pandemic-hit families criticize decision

However, family members of those who passed away from Covid-19 have criticized the decision to exclude all of them from the investigation’s initial six-week phase. The Covid Bereaved Families for Justice group said that none of the 20 witnesses they had proposed for the first module had been asked to testify. “How can the inquiry properly evaluate the decisions made by those in charge without learning from the experiences of our members?” Barbara Herbert, a group member who lost her spouse Paul to Covid, said.

“We are the ones who will be able to test Hallett’s theory in reality; that has to happen. Saleyha Ahsan, a doctor whose father Ahsan-ul-Haq Chaudry also passed away, continued, “If not, it’s just a farce.” A spokesperson for the investigation said the chair had not ruled out using bereaved individuals’ testimony in the later stages of the investigation. In the UK, public inquiries are sponsored by the government but have a neutral chair.

Hallett has refused to backtrack from her request for Johnson’s unredacted communications, possibly to include exchanges at the heart of government relating to the ordering of 3 lockdowns in 2020 when Sunak was in charge of the Britain’s purse strings.

The government’s Cabinet Office, the department supportive the prime minister and oversees the functioning of government, has inquired about the relevance of the material. But Hallett has insisted that she rules what is relevant to the investigation.

A judge is due to decide on the request at the end of this month, with the material likely to be central to the inquiry’s second phase on government decision-making.

The later phases will concentrate on how the UK health system handled the epidemic, treatments and vaccinations, government procurement, and the effect on the care industry. By the summer of 2026, the public hearings should be over.

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