UK COVID Inquiry Begins

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Facts

  • Headed by former appeal court judge Lady Heather Hallett, the UK's inquiry into its handling of the COVID pandemic began Tuesday. The four topics opened to hearings so far are resilience and preparedness, core UK decision-making and political governance, the impact of the pandemic on healthcare, and vaccines and therapeutics.1
  • Though the probe is expected to last three years, Hallett said she would release findings after each section ends, with the first section due to look at whether government planning adequately considered the pandemic's risk.2
  • Coordination with Wales and Northern Ireland will also be investigated, with Robin Allen of the Local Government Association and Welsh Local Government Association claiming that the "central government did not fully understand the way local government in England worked and what it could contribute."3
  • While Hallett says the inquiry is only to learn lessons and that nobody will be found guilty or innocent, counsel for the group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, Pete Weatherby, has accused authorities of "complacent" pandemic planning that was geared towards a flu-style outbreak.4
  • Up to 70 witnesses are expected to testify in the first round of hearings, starting with Prof. Jimmy Whitworth and Dr. Charlotte Hammer, experts in infectious diseases, epidemiology, and public health. Former PMs David Cameron and Boris Johnson, along with current PM Rishi Sunak, will also appear.1
  • The inquiry was ordered by Johnson, who saw over 175k deaths by the end of his tenure in July last year. As the second round of hearings won't begin until later this year, the government is challenging a request for access to Johnson's WhatsApp messages while he was PM, a case set to end this month.5

Sources: 1Guardian, 2FOX News, 3Sky News, 4BBC News, and 5Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Telegraph. It seems this inquiry has been created to play out just like the government's response to COVID: have a bunch of so-called experts give their advice on what should or shouldn't have happened until the public loses interest and accepts the status quo. Not only is the government planning for this to last years and cost over £114M (~US$126M), it has already required negative COVID tests to attend the hearings — a national policy that has been defunct for a year. Those in charge don't seem to care about science, good governance, or justice.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Metro. While families of those who died during the pandemic understandably feel their voices are falling on deaf ears, Heather Hallett's goal is to conduct an incredibly thorough investigation into any of the government's potential failures and obtain as many answers and as much justice for them as possible. This inquiry covers a lot of ground, so, unfortunately, everyone must wait patiently so she has the time to get to the bottom of each and every botched pandemic policy.