If 'now is not the time' to commit to a coronavirus inquiry, then when? | Nesrine Malik
The British government knows it has messed up. So it will dodge and delay a public inquiry until the moment passes
As calls mount for an inquiry into the government’s coronavirus response, the answer we hear is: now is not the time. When Dominic Raab was asked last week if the government would commit to holding a public inquiry, he resorted to the impatient language of priorities. “When we get through this crisis,” he huffed, only then will it be “important to take stock”.
Here’s what we already know. The government delayed implementing a lockdown for no clear reason – perhaps it was the prime minister’s outsized regard for the “freedom-loving instincts of the British people”, or a misguided bid to pursue “herd immunity” – and then reversed its position. Weeks were wasted, and thousands of lives were lost. The government abruptly stopped its contact-tracing programme in mid-March; it claimed mass testing wasn’t necessary, and then U-turned while repeatedly shifting the goalposts on the number of tests to be done. It did not provide adequate levels of PPE for NHS and care home staff, and hundreds of workers are dying. This government’s Conservative predecessors underfunded the NHS and undermined the UK’s preparedness for a major crisis such as a pandemic.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3eTtqvs
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