COVID-19 report highlights need for independent public inquiry

Responding to the release of the 'Assessing England’s response to COVID-19' report by the King’s Fund, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:  “This report plainly lays out the need and the framework for an independent public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.  “It has become increasingly clear over the last year that the Government was poorly prepared for a pandemic and slow to act when it hit. Its shady approach to procuring PPE and its failure to implement a robust test, trace and isolate system have exacerbated this crisis.    “The Liberal Democrats were successful in getting the Prime Minister to commit to holding an inquiry and we believe he should not delay in carrying it out. The country needs to know what lessons can be learnt now, both to protect us in the future and to hold to account those that mishandled this pandemic.” [N.B. Although NHS (GIG) in Wales is largely devolved, Westminster still controls key policy areas such as materiel acquisition.]