Boris Johnson has committed to an “independent inquiry” into the coronavirus pandemic for the first time.
The Prime Minister said the government would seek to learn lessons “in the future” and “certainly we will have an independent inquiry in to what happened”.
Johnson was pinned down on the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions by acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.
He said it was not right to devote “huge amounts of official time” to an inquiry when the UK is “in the middle” of a pandemic but confirmed an inevitable investigation would follow in time.
The Prime Minister has previously rejected opposition calls for an inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the Commons, Davey asked: “Under this PM we suffered one of the worst death rates in the world and Europe’s worst death rate for health and care workers.
“Previously he’s refused my demand for an immediate independent inquiry, saying it’s too soon, even though back in 2003 he voted for an independent inquiry into the Iraq war just months after that conflict had started.
“If he still rejects an immediate inquiry, will he instead commit in principle to a future public inquiry?”
Johnson replied: “As I’ve told the House several times, I do not believe that now in the middle of combating, still as we are, a pandemic is the right moment to devote huge amounts of official time to an inquiry, but of course we will seek to learn the lessons of this pandemic in the future and certainly we will have an independent inquiry into what happened.”
The prime minister did not commit to a public inquiry which would involve public hearings and witnesses giving evidence under oath.
The commitment came after Johnson bragged about the government’s track and trace system being “as good or better” than any other country’s.
Starmer had warned Johnson he was “kidding no-one” by claiming everything is a “stunning success” in connection with the Government’s coronavirus response and urged the PM to acknowledge there are problems.
When the Labour leader pressed Johnson for a message to bereaved families of Covid-19 victims the PM replied: “We will do absolutely everything in our power to prevent a second spike in this epidemic.”
But the Tory leader went on to make an embarrassing joke at expense of the bereaved.
Accusing former lawyer Starmer of flipflopping from support to criticism of the government handling of coronaviris Johnson said: “He needs to make up his mind about which brief he’s going to take today because at the moment he’s got more briefs than Calvin Klein.”
A spokesman for the Labour leader said after PMQs: “It tells you everything you need to know about the Prime Minister’s flippant approach to this crisis. Keir was raising very serious concerns from bereaved relatives and the Prime Minister responded with a pre-prepared joke.”
