Boris Johnson has refused to set a date for Covid-19 inquiry, despite a devastating question from a Labour MP who "lost an entire generation" of his family to the virus.
He was asked twice at Prime Minister’s Questions to commit to an independent probe into the handling of the pandemic as soon as lockdown restrictions are lifted.
But the PM would only promise to hold one when “it’s right to do so.”
The Commons sat in silence as Labour MP Afzal Khan told the Commons he had lost three members of his family to Coronavirus.
He said: "A year into this crisis and more than 126,000 lives have been lost. Behind this staggering figure are millions of grieving loved ones.
"In my family, we have lost an entire generation.
"I couldn't hold my mum's hand as she lay dying and I recently lost both my father and mother-in-law within just days of one another.
"Grieving families like mine want and deserve to understand what happened, and if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy."
Mr Johnson offered his "sympathies and sorrow" for Mr Khan's loss - but would not commit to the timeline.
He said: "His experience is one, as he rightly says, that has been shared by far too many families up and down the country.
“And that's why we're of course committed - as soon as it's right to do so, as soon as it wouldn't be an irresponsible diversion of the energies of the key officials involved - to an inquiry to learn the lessons, to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again."
Labour leader Keir Starmer PMQs by demanding a "full public inquiry”.
He described the 126,000 deaths linked to Covid-19 as "shocking", adding in the Commons: "Behind every one of those numbers is a grieving family.
"As soon as restrictions lift, there must be a full public inquiry because that is the only way we can get to the bottom of the many mistakes made during the pandemic and find justice for those who have suffered so much."
