People's COVID Inquiry
The pandemic continues - What must happen now?
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Episode notes
Previous sessions have heard testimony on government policies before and during the pandemic that have had significant bearing on the impact of the pandemic on the population, the differential impacts on groups in the population, the success or failure to control the spread of coronavirus, the resulting high numbers of deaths and people suffering with long term effects of Covid-19. This concluding session takes an overview: as the Delta variant spreads in Britain, and the pandemic rages across the world, with billions unprotected by vaccine, there are important issues of national and international consequence: a people's vaccine, with technology shared and free from patents; governance around the vaccination programme; the importance of listening and responding to citizens such as Bereaved Families for Justice. Inquiry witnesses have been highly critical of the way national government by-passed Local Authorities and Public Health: what could local government do and, most important, what must happen now?; what is the role of a trade union in the pandemic; why has Government policy been in conflict with national trade unions like the NEU and there are questions from a legal standpoint on accountability and legal and statutory compliance.
THE PANEL:
Michael Mansfield QC (chair), Professor Neena Modi, Dr. Tolullah Oni, Dr. Jacky Davis
Lorna Hackett Barrister (Counsel to the Inquiry)
WITNESSES:
Deepti Gurdasani | Clinical epidemiologist & statistical geneticist, Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning, Queen Mary Univ. of London
Kevin Courtney | Joint General Secretary, National Education Union
Stephen Cowan | Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council
Matt Western | MP for Warwick & Leamington - written statement read out
Jean Adamson | Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice
Michael Bimmler | Public law barrister
'People told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace were not offered financial support matching their lost salaries because of the government’s fear that the system would be “gamed”, Matt Hancock has said.'
Joint Health Select Committee hearing 10 June 2021, reported The Independent
'We want to hear from the right honourable gentleman ... a bit of support ... a bit of encouragement to pupils, and perhaps even some encouragement to his friends in the left-wing trade unions to help get our schools ready.'
Boris Johnson, House of Commons, 10 June 2020
‘We put a protective ring around our care homes’
Matt Hancock, House of Commons. 19 May 2020
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