We owe it to those we have lost and NHS staff to hold Covid inquiry, says Starmer

Keir Starmer has this morning argued that “we owe both the NHS staff on the frontline and all the families of those who have died to learn the lessons” of the Covid pandemic and to hold an inquiry into the handling of the health crisis.

In an interview today while visiting a hospital, one year after the Prime Minister first told the public that they must stay at home, the Labour leader paid tribute to those working on the frontline throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Commenting outside Westminster and Chelsea Hospital, Starmer told viewers: “I’ve had the opportunity on a very important day to come and say thank you to them and to NHS staff on the frontline, and to all staff on the frontline.

“They’ve described to me what the last year has been like. They’ve been working pretty much flat out. They’ve been working in their spare time, coming in and bonding as a team. But they’ve been through a huge amount and we all owe them a big, big thanks.

“Obviously, today is also about remembering every single person who died in this pandemic and the family that lies behind them.

“And we owe both the NHS staff on the frontline and all the families of those who have died to learn the lessons of the last 12 months. To have an inquiry and to learn what went wrong and make sure that we never repeat that.”

Labour recently ramped up its calls for a public inquiry into the government response to the pandemic. Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves has said that the investigation should begin in June this year.

“We’re supposed to be out of the roadmap by 21st June,” the frontbencher said last week. “Let’s get ready for it now, and from 21st June this inquiry can really get started and use the summer months where we should be better protected.”

The opposition party called for government ministers to work with bereaved families in undertaking the inquiry, with Reeves telling Sky News viewers last week that those who have lost relatives are “desperate for lessons to be learned”.

The government has refused to say when an inquiry will start. Robert Jenrick said in response to Labour’s call that there “will come a time” to look back in hindsight and insisted that ministers are capable of “learning lessons through the pandemic”.

“They were slow in the first wave, slow to go into lockdown, very slow with protective equipment to the frontline. But then we went into the second wave and instead of learning the lessons, they repeated the mistakes,” Starmer added today.

“In the second wave we had more deaths than in the first wave and I think there are some very, very important lessons there. Both about the first wave – why so slow? Second wave – why didn’t you learn the lessons over the summer?” he asked.

“And I think, as I say, for the frontline staff, they’re owed an explanation and certainly the families of all of those that have lost someone are owed an explanation.”