In June, the public hearings for the inquiry into how the government handled the coronavirus pandemic will begin.
In the meantime, the Cabinet Office has filed a lawsuit to block the inquiry's demand for access to the unredacted messages exchanged between former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and associates.
Public inquiries are made in response to "public concern" regarding a specific event or series of events. They are directed by an impartial chair, despite being started and funded by the government.
People can appear as witnesses during an investigation, and documentation and tangible evidence can also be produced. It is anticipated that its findings will be published, and it might offer advice to the administration.
The Covid inquiry, which was started by the then-prime minister Boris Johnson in May 2021, is looking into how the government handled the pandemic. It will cover both the decision-making at the federal level and at the state and local levels.
The inquest into the 2005 7/7 bombings was presided over by Baroness Heather Hallett, a retired judge and cross-bench peer.
At the time, Boris Johnson declared that the UK's response would be "placed under the microscope" in all respects.
The investigation has no set end date but is scheduled to hold public hearings until 2026.
Six "modules" covering various facets of the government response make up the work of the inquiry. .
The initial three are thinking about:.
- perseverance and readiness.
- decision-making and political governance at the heart of the UK.
- how Covid has affected the healthcare systems in the four UK countries.
The following three, for which hearings are scheduled for 2024 and 2025, will examine:.
- care industry in the UK.
- vaccinations, treatments, and antiviral medication throughout the UK.
- across the UK, public procurement.
In each of the UK's four countries, public hearings will be held.
Scotland is also conducting its own independent investigation that will focus on devolved policy areas.
The team led by Baroness Hallett is anticipated to concentrate on the most important and divisive elements of the government's response, such as:.
The investigation will likely look into whether too many restrictions were put in place as the pandemic spread.
England transitioned from the so-called "rule of six" to a tier-based regulatory structure over the course of 80 days in the autumn of 2020, before entering a state of national lockdown and then returning to tiers.
The investigation is also anticipated to take the government's approach to education into account.
These were largely closed to students in March 2020 and then again in January 2021; the first full reopening took place only after pubs and hair salons had resumed their regular business hours.
Senior government ministers and officials are anticipated to testify under oath despite the absence of a complete list of witnesses.
Both Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, and Sir Chris Whitty, the chief medical advisor to the UK government during the pandemic, are expected to speak.
The inquiry's Every Story Matters project has also extended an invitation to the general public to share their experiences.
The campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, which has criticized some aspects of the government's response to the pandemic, has urged the inquiry to make sure these voices are heard.
The inquiry has requested access to the full text of the WhatsApp conversations between former prime minister Boris Johnson and 40 other individuals during the pandemic.
These people include Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister and former chancellor, as well as former No. 10 advisor Dominic Cummings and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
With the claim that the messages are irrelevant, the Cabinet Office filed a lawsuit to block the request. This is reportedly the first time a government has brought a lawsuit against a self-initiated public inquiry.
Whether a piece of information was pertinent was up to her, according to Baroness Hallett.
Mr. Johnson asserted that he was "perfectly content" for the investigation to have access to WhatsApp messages sent after May 2021 that had already been provided to the Cabinet Office. As a result of his mobile phone being involved in a security breach and not being used since, earlier messages are not accessible.
Although many of these have already been revealed by the journalist Isobel Oakeshott, who assisted the former health secretary Matt Hancock in writing his book, Pandemic Diaries, Mr. Hancock said he was happy to share his messages.
