Labour leader Keir Starmer has demanded the Covid inquiry release findings by the end of the year amid fresh criticism of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock over his pandemic response.
Mr Hancock was engulfed in a row over whether he rejected advice from one of England’s health chiefs at the start of the pandemic over testing people going into care homes.
Mr Hancock faced allegations in The Daily Telegraph, which obtained more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages between him, ministers and officials, that he had not followed the advice of England’s Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty. Mr Hancock furiously rejected the claims.
At Prime Minister’s Question’s on Wednesday, Mr Starmer said the messages were an “insulting and ghoulish spectacle” for families across the country who have lost loved ones.
The country “deserves better” he said, criticising the cost of the Covid inquiry so far.
Rishi Sunak insisted the coronavirus inquiry was the “right way” to investigate the Government's handling of the pandemic rather than relying on “piecemeal bits of information”.
Mr Starmer had earlier attacked Mr Sunak over the “shocking state” the Tories had left the country in during cost of living crisis.
Following PMQs, health minister Helen Whately faced an urgent question from Labour on testing of care home residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She told MPs the “importance of testing was never in doubt" but added "tough decisions about prioritisation had to be made”.
