Covid Inquiry

The Covid Inquiry in the UK is finally underway. To put this into context, Sweden finished their inquiry in February 2022. Other countries are already in the throes of theirs. We’re late to the party. We all need answers and they need to be full and frank and without question. From the clown show that is currently going on, that doesn’t look likely at this early stage. The inquiry is currently being frustrated by those who called the inquiry in the first place. The government is taking their own inquiry to court to ensure that the full and unredacted WhatsApp messages from all the players involved do not reach the inquiry. Interestingly the Health Department have handed over unredacted information. But the Foreign Office and the Cabinet Office have not.

The government, the same one that handled the covid emergency are trying to determine what evidence is relevant. If you get nicked for something, you don’t get to tell the judge what evidence is relevant and what isn’t. The problem we have is mobile phones and the blurring between personal and business. WhatsApp is a great tool for messaging but I don’t think it should be used for government work. Emails are better because there’s an easily accessible trail. Have I not just stumbled into the issue? This government doesn’t like to be scrutinised and it seems like they’ve used WhatsApp because it’s little more trickier and so they can blur those personal/business lines as an excuse. In my opinion, they’re hiding something or a lot of somethings.

We have a right to get answers to all of the questions we may have. There are those who lost loved ones who are looking for closure and they are looking to this inquiry to help them look for that closure. But the government is acting in a way so that we now cannot inherently trust them before the thing has even gotten off the ground. How will we ever believe that they haven’t hidden or destroyed evidence now? How can we trust them? I mean I’ve been asking that question for some time. I feel like I had an ok covid period and I feel lucky because of that. I’ve listened to so much testimony of those who didn’t and who are still struggling now because of it. Unfortunately I don’t think this inquiry will help those people find the answers they need and that’s upsetting.

As a postscript I just want to mention Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and the bill for his lawyers for the Partygate Inquiry and for the Covid Inquiry. There have been reports of it costing the taxpayer over £200,000 and counting. I’m going to say something against my normal grain and say that I agree that his lawyers should be paid for by the taxpayer. As a public servant, doing public servant work, these inquiries are investigating his actions in public service and therefore the bill should be footed by the public. We voted him in, we have to foot the bill. What I don’t agree with is the government capping the eligibility for legal aid for the rest of us. If you earn over £12,475 per annum, you can’t claim for legal aid. The perception therefore is that again, one rule for us and one rule for them. There should be provision for more legal aid for more people.