Covid-19 inquiry: senior lawyer says pandemic took UK ‘by surprise’ at first public hearing

The UK was “taken by surprise” in significant aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the top lawyer at the inquiry examining how the government responded to it.

On the first day of public hearings, Hugo Keith KC said it was apparent - even before any evidence was heard - that “we might not have been very well prepared at all”. Earlier, relatives of those who lost loved ones gathered outside the inquiry venue in central London - holding up photos of victims.

What is the Covid inquiry?

With Covid recorded on nearly 227,000 death certificates, the inquiry was set up by Boris Johnson in May 2021 to learn lessons from the pandemic, and examine the way his government responded to it. It’s independent and has statutory powers equivalent to those of a court.

Retired Court of Appeal judge Baroness Hallett, who’s chairing the process, will investigate six key topics. The first will explore whether the UK was ready for a major public health crisis. It will look at issues including resourcing and risk management - and is likely to hear from former Prime Minister David Cameron, his Chancellor George Osborne as well as senior health experts.

Members of the public will be able to attend the hearings in central London - or they can watch them live online. People have also been asked to share their own stories of the pandemic with the inquiry via a webform.

The process is likely to be a lengthy one - with public hearings due to end in the summer of 2026.

What happened on day one?

Opening the first public hearing, Hallett began by setting out the terms of the inquiry, what she hoped to achieve and how it would work.

She said: “As people arrived at the hearing centre today, they found a dignified vigil of bereaved family members holding photographs of their loved ones. Their grief was obvious to all. It is on their behalf and on behalf of the millions who suffered and continue to suffer in different ways as a result of the pandemic, that I intend to answer the following three questions".

“Was the United Kingdom properly prepared for a pandemic?"

“Was the response to it appropriate?"

“And can we learn lessons for the future?”

She also paid tribute to everyone who has been involved with the inquiry so far, and acknowledged that some people feel “that the inquiry has not sufficiently recognised their loss or listened to them in the way they feel appropriate”.

She said: “I hope that they will better understand as the inquiry progresses the very difficult balance I have had to strike. I hope they will understand when they see the results of the work we are doing that I am listening to them. Their loss will be recognised".

What else has been said?

In his own opening remarks, the lead lawyer to the inquiry - Hugo Keith KC - said the UK may not have been “very well prepared at all” to deal with the pandemic, saying it was “taken by surprise” by “significant aspects” of the disease.

Lawyers representing other so-called ‘core participants’ - the people or groups who have a specific interest in the inquiry’s work - have also been giving statements.

Pete Weatherby KC, from Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said the evidence would likely show a “lack of responsibility in government, with little or no ministerial leadership (causing) a slow reaction. And with a pandemic, time is of the essence and lost time is measured in lost lives”.

Brian Stanton, the lawyer for the British Medical Association (BMA), said failures to secure enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare staff “led to the ludicrous spectacle of doctors making aprons from bin liners”.

But a representative for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said - if conducted properly - the inquiry could save lives in future pandemics. Sam Jacobs went on: “It is no hyperbole to say this inquiry has the opportunity to reduce avoidable deaths in their thousands”.

What about Boris Johnson and his WhatsApp messages?

In recent weeks there’s been a major row between Hallett and the government about which material from Boris Johnson’s time in office she should be able to see.

The chair wants to look at all the unedited or ‘unredacted’ copies of his WhatsApp exchanges with senior officials plus a series of notebooks. The Cabinet Office - which oversees the running of government - is going to court to stop this happening because it’s worried about the effect it might have on future decision making if ministers don’t feel able to speak freely in their texts to other ministers and aides.

Johnson has tried to bypass the legal row by giving Hallett the WhatsApps himself - insisting he had nothing to hide. Some messages, however, are available only on a mobile phone last switched on since 2021 when it emerged the number had been publicly available for some time. Efforts are being made to access the phone securely.

Is Rishi Sunak worried about the messages?

Asked last week on a trip to Washington whether he was concerned that something in the messages might cause him embarrassment, the Prime Minister said: “No, not at all. I as well am co-operating and providing information to the inquiry. It’s actually taking a lot of my own time, but that’s right that I do that”.

“The work that the inquiry is doing is important and necessary, and those involved should co-operate in a spirit of candour and transparency. That’s what I’m doing and that’s what the government’s doing”.