The head of a long-awaited inquiry into the Covid pandemic has warned she will not hold back if anyone tries to "stand in the way".
Today former judge Baroness Hallett, who will be chairing the probe, said she would be conducting a thorough investigation into the government's decisions and the impact coronavirus has had across the UK.
She said outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson had told her he wants to appoint two additional panel members - but she was not going to allow it to delay her work.
Making her opening statement, she vowed to be "rigorous and fair", and said she hoped her findings can help prepare for the next pandemic.
Public hearings on the UK's level of preparedness and the response to the crisis are set to begin next spring.
Baroness Hallett said that key witnesses and people involved in decision-making would be "compelled" to appear, and she would make her feelings known if she feels anyone is not co-operating.
Boris Johnson and former Health Secretaries Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid are among the leaders expected to be grilled extensively during the inquiry.
The retired High Court judge said: "We have the power to obtain evidence from across the four nations and compel the production of documents and witnesses.
"I will not hesitate to make my views clear about any organisation or person standing in the way of the inquiry performing its task."
She said that Boris Johnson had told her he wishes to appoint two additional members to the inquiry panel, adding: "However I don't want to hold up the work until they're appointed so I've instructed the inquiry teams to continue."
The inquiry boss added that the amount of evidence, and the massive scope of the work, meant it would take a long time to complete.
"This will not be completed as quickly as some might like... I make no apology for that," she said.
Inquiry chiefs will not have the right to prosecute those deemed to have made failings, Baroness Hallett said.
She announced that the inquiry would be divided into modules, allowing for updates to be issued on a more regular basis. The first would focus on the UK's level of preparedness.
There will be a preliminary hearing on September 20, Baroness Hallett said, with public hearings next spring.
The second module will look at the government and civil service response - with researchers also looking at the ways the pandemic was handled in the four nations of the UK.
This will open in the autumn, with public hearings commencing next summer.
The third module will focus on the impact on healthcare, and will include a focus on Long Covid.
Outlining the importance of her work, Baroness Hallett said: "During the public consultation earlier this year, when I met families who had lost loved ones during the course of the pandemic, I was struck by the devastating nature of their loss, exacerbated by the impact of the restrictions in place at the time on their ability to grieve."
She added that "every person has had their life changed to some extent".
Baroness Hallett said: "We will gather the experiences of the pandemic from across the whole of the UK including those who were most affected and those who are not always heard."
Last week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the death toll since the start of the pandemic had reached 200,000.
Earlier this month the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group said it hoped the inquiry would give "closure" and gave a damning indictment on Boris Johnson's leadership.
The group said: " Boris Johnson ’s legacy is the deaths of nearly 200,000 British people on his watch.
"He will be remembered as the Prime Minister who failed to act when Covid-19 began ripping through the country, who allowed our hospitals to become overwhelmed, left our Care Homes defenseless, and had to put the country in lockdown for nearly a year to salvage the situation.
"Whilst Johnson will move on to a life of writing newspaper columns and being paid eye watering amounts to give after dinner speeches, there will be no moving on for the families like ours that have been ripped apart by his actions."
Today Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign said: “Today was an emotional day for those of us who have lost loved ones and it meant a lot to hear Baroness Hallet recognise the “devastating nature of bereavement” and the pain we’ve been through.
"Hopefully she’ll stay true to her word and not make bereaved families go through the stressful and draining process of applying to be core participants in every single module.
"Ultimately, all bereaved families want the same thing, which is to make sure that lessons are learnt from our devastating losses to protect others in the future. For the inquiry to be successful our experiences need to be at at the heart of the entire process, be that the research they're commissioning, the evidence being gathered or the hearings themselves.”
Boris Johnson will co-operate with the inquiry, No10 said. Asked if he would cooperate, the PM's official spokesman said: "Yes, obviously it was the Prime Minister who established the inquiry and signed off on the terms of reference."
Asked if he would cooperate when he's a backbench MP, his spokesman said: "By the nature of my role, I can't comment on what actions he will take when he ceases to be PM."
No10 did not rule out adding additional members to the panel leading the inquiry.
The PM's official spokesman said: "When it comes to the panel the aim and objective is to ensure it has all the requisite skills and experience necessary so we can fully establish the picture and learn the appropriate lessons."
