We need a Covid-19 inquiry now – and it can only happen with Labour’s support

I lost my dad Stuart to Covid-19 back in April. He caught the virus while visiting hospital to hear about his cancer diagnosis and died two weeks later. Little did we know or expect back then that less than a year later over 100,000 more people would have died from this disease.

As the death rate began to climb following my own loss, I helped set up a group called Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice. Initially, we were just a Facebook group that acted as a place to vent our frustrations and mourn away from the prying eyes of those who did not understand our grief.

As our numbers swelled to over 2,300 members, we became a campaigning organisation with two clear objectives. Our primary aims are to secure a statutory public inquiry into the government’s handling of this pandemic and to demand better mental health care for the hundreds of thousands who are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Given our experiences, we know there are many areas that the government could have learnt from its approach during the first wave of the pandemic. These include test and trace, the spread of Covid-19 in care homes and hospitals, inadequate personal protective equipment supplies, the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities, the effectiveness of NHS 111, and so much more.

We wrote to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary time and time again, pleading with them to meet our group and hear our insights into where their response to the pandemic could be improved. Not only did they say no, but the Prime Minister later lied to parliament and said he couldn’t meet us because we were in litigation with the government. That is not, and has never been, true.

It felt like a breakthrough moment, then, when Keir Starmer agreed to meet our group and hear us out. Not only did he listen, but he called out the Prime Minister twice in the House of Commons for refusing to meet with us. This support has been invaluable, and we are hugely grateful that the Labour leader would speak out on behalf of all those who lost a loved one to Covid-19.

Yet our goal of an urgent public inquiry has not yet been realised. I understand why the Prime Minister would refuse to heed our calls, but disappointingly, Labour has so far only asked when an inquiry might begin, rather than taking that final step to demand a public inquiry now.

This is despite a wealth of support for our campaign across the UK. Over 200,000 members of the public signed our petition demanding an urgent inquiry, and a YouGov poll conducted in September showed 58% of the public support the call for a public inquiry into the government’s response to the pandemic.

We then wrote an open letter calling for an immediate public inquiry, which was signed by 25 different trade unions and charities representing millions, including Unite, UNISON, GMB, Usdaw, the British Medical Association, TUC, NEU, UCU, Amnesty International, Disability Rights UK, the Race Equality Foundation and many more.

From within the Labour Party, there is support for an inquiry. The mayors of London and Manchester, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham, have both publicly backed us, as well as many Labour MPs. There are even some Conservatives who support us, such as the West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who said there should be no delay in starting a public inquiry.

It is clear, then, that there is a robust case to demand that the Prime Minister launch a public inquiry immediately to learn lessons and save any more lives being lost to this virus. It is estimated that, for every person who dies, they leave behind five loved ones mourning their loss. 100,000 deaths is not only a total failure of government policy but a heart-breaking loss to every one of those 500,000 bereaved.

This is about more than mere politics and optics. During times of great historic turmoil, people demand courage from their leaders. The courage to focus not on the optics and politics, but to stand up for what is right for our country. It is time for Labour to show that courage. There can be no more delays. There can be no more waiting. There must be a Covid-19 inquiry, now. And this can only happen with Labour’s support.