Families of Covid victims accused Boris Johnson of breaking a pledge to involve them in choosing the head of the planned public inquiry, after weeks of silence.
In September, the prime minister finally met with the families – after refusing to do for almost 400 days – and agreed to give them a “clear role” in both the inquiry’s terms of reference and in selecting its chair.
But the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group says it has heard nothing from Downing Street in the eight weeks since, prompting mounting anger among its members.
Lobby Akinnola, the group’s spokesperson, said: “We met with Boris Johnson less than two months ago and he looked us in the eye and promised us that a chair would be appointed by Christmas and that we would be consulted.
Earlier, experts and scientific advisers claimed ministers in England have “lost the message” over Covid-19. The warning came on the same day that the devolved nations strengthened their own strategies against the virus.
One member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said that this advice needed to “be continually reinforced by the people in power”.
Kamlesh Khunti, a professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine, added: “We’ve lost the message; we don’t hear it as much now.”
