A grieving MP has ramped up the pressure on Boris Johnson to hold a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Labour MP Afzal Khan told the Prime Minister he had lost “an entire generation”, including his mother, father and mother-in-law “within days of one another”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons the Manchester Gorton MP urged for the inquiry to begin “as soon as current restrictions are lifted”.
He told Johnson: “Grieving families like mine want and deserve to understand what happened and if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy.”
Keir Starmer joined the calls for public inquiry in is PMQs slot.
The Labour leader said the independent investigation promised by the prime minister, but for which no start date has been set, should be launched “as soon as restrictions lift”.
Starmer said: “That is the only way we can get to the bottom of the many mistakes that were made during the pandemic and find justice for those who have suffered so much.”
Johnson sent his “sorrow” and sympathy to Khan.
He explained: “We are 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, we are of course committed to an inquiry to learn the lessons, to make sure something like this can never happen again.”
He and other senior ministers have avoided confirming when an inquiry will begin.
Nicola Sturgeon promised on Tuesday to establish a statutory public inquiry after she met with families who lost loved ones to the virus.
The First Minister said she would seek to get UK-wide investigation in the first instance but would set up a stand-alone Scottish inquiry if necessary.
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, last week suggesting he thought a public inquiry now would be an “unwelcome distraction” given that experts were focused on the next phase of vaccinations.
