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Covid-19 Inquiry

The Covid Public Inquiry is looking into how the UK dealt with the biggest crisis it faced since the second world war, the Covid-19 pandemic. It is established under the 2005 Inquiries act as a statutory public inquiry with the power to compel witnesses, including current and former Prime Ministers, and for their evidence to be heard under oath

Austerity played a huge role in undermining the resilience of our country to withstand the pandemic. You can read how in our Austerity and the pandemic report at Austerity and the pandemic.

What is the purpose of the Covid-19 Inquiry?

The inquiry will listen to the accounts of victims and their families, as well as seek to establish facts, find fault, and learn lessons.

The Inquiry is divided into a series of modules looking at different aspects of the Covid pandemic. Four modules include:

  1. Resilience and preparedness
  2. Core UK decision-making and political governance
  3. The impact of the pandemic on the healthcare system
  4. Vaccines and therapeutics
  5. Procurement
  6. Social Care
  7. Test, Trace and Isolate
  8. Impact on Children and Young People
  9. Economic Impact
  10. Impact on Society 

How is the TUC involved?

The TUC is acting on behalf of its 48 member Unions and representing 5.5 million working people across the country at the inquiry. The TUC is a Core Participant in modules 1, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and is applying for Core Participant status in module 10. This makes the TUC the non-state Core Participant involved in more modules than any other participant.

Core Participants have the legal right to see evidence, put forward questions for witnesses and make opening and closing statements. You can see the TUC's opening statement for module 1, into pandemic preparedness (12 June 2023)  

Since being a Core Participant the TUC, through its legal team of Thompson Solicitors and Sam Jacobs and Ruby Peacock of Doughty Street Chambers, have provided witness statements, questioned Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Matt Hancock, Dominic Cummings and many more as to their role in the pandemic.

The TUC also helped expose the Governments decision making to refuse education workers the opportunity to wear a mask due to Gavin Williamson being in “no surrender” mode to the Trade Unions as we highlighted a WhatsApp chain between Dominic Cummings, Simon Case and Lee Caine. 

We will keep fighting to ensure the inquiry looks in depth on how the government failed to engage with unions effectively in decision making and the impact that had on PPE and the implementation, management and enforcement of workplace safety measures and to ensure the voices of working people and key workers are heard loud and clear in the inquiry and placed into the record. 

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