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Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice

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Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (also known as Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK) is a pressure group of over 4,000 relatives of people who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[1][2] The group created the National Covid Memorial Wall[3] and runs a support group on Facebook, which currently[when?] has 4,300 members.[4]

They are calling for a statutory public inquiry into the UK government's handling of the pandemic; a statutory public inquiry has the power to subpoena people and take evidence under oath.[5]

Formation

The group was formed in May 2020 by 30 families.[6]

Inquiry calls

See also: COVID-19 public inquiry in the United Kingdom

They are calling for a judge-led statutory public inquiry into the pandemic and the government's response to it, with a rapid review phase.[7][8] A statutory public inquiry has the power to subpoena people and take evidence under oath.[5]

The group has also threatened litigation to force ministers into an inquiry, including a pre-action letter of judicial review by the High Court of Justice,[9] as they argue that the government "serially failed to take reasonable steps to minimise the effects of the pandemic, leading to massive, unnecessary loss of life".[10][11] They have dismissed claims by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that ministers "did everything [they] could ... to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering" as "an insult to the memory of everyone we have lost and a kick in the teeth for bereaved families who deserve acknowledgement that our loved ones were failed".[12] Lawyers representing the group have acted in major public inquiries including into the Hillsborough, Grenfell Tower and Manchester Arena disasters.[13]

The proposed inquiry would include an analysis of: the test, track and trace system, communication of infection control measures and implementation of lockdown measures, attempts to redress the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities (specifically Black and South Asian people), as well as a review of the functioning of the National Health Service and its staff during the pandemic − including supplies of personal protective equipment, the transfer of patients from hospitals to care homes, risk assessments (including failures to respond to warnings in 2017's Exercise Cygnus, which reported that the UK was not prepared for a pandemic), isolation and staff testing – and the functioning of 111 services.[14][15][16][17]

Meeting with officials

The group's representatives have met with Labour leader Keir Starmer, and provided evidence to Amnesty International on COVID-19 care home deaths.[18] In meeting with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Sturgeon said that she would support a UK-wide public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic, or failing that an inquiry into Scotland's handling of the pandemic; however, she did not commit to a date.[19]

Proposed meeting with the prime minister

The UK government has said that it will launch an inquiry at some unspecified point in the future,[20][21] and that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet "anybody" who was bereaved,[22] but that he could not meet with the group as they were currently in litigation with the government. The group disputed this, arguing their pre-action letter for a judicial review did not mean that they had been in litigation with the government.[23][24][25]

Johnson had been invited by the group to meet families of the bereaved seven times, all of which were rejected;[26][27] however, he visited the National Covid Memorial Wall, which was built by the group, for "quiet reflection" without meeting bereaved families, which a co-founder of the group said was a "a late evening visit under cover of darkness" and "a cynical and insincere move that is deeply hurtful".[28][25][29][30]

Following reports of Johnson allegedly saying "No more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands!" in response to a planned third lockdown, the group has accused him of "flippancy" and "callous comments [which] will have caused untold hurt to hundreds of thousands".[31][32] The group argues that, regardless of the veracity of the quoted comments, the third lockdown – as with the first and second – was "needlessly delayed" for political purposes.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bradley, Sorcha (27 April 2021). "When will grieving families get inquiry into UK's Covid response?". The Week UK. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  2. ^ Booth, Robert; Macwhirter, Jamie (17 March 2021). "'It was avoidable': families bereaved in second wave call for Covid inquiry". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  3. ^ Pylas, Pan (29 March 2021). "Happy Monday? England embarks on major easing of lockdown". Associated Press. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. ^ Knight, Sam (30 April 2021). "The Bodies Piled High, Whatever Boris Johnson Said". The New Yorker. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Coronavirus: Boris Johnson 'heartless' for not meeting bereaved families". BBC News. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  6. ^ Conn, David (11 May 2020). "Bereaved families seek 'justice' for UK victims of coronavirus". the Guardian.
  7. ^ "'We owe it to families and victims to get on with Covid inquiry'". ITV News. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. ^ Booth, Robert; Sample, Ian (16 March 2021). "Bereaved families call for judge-led public inquiry into UK Covid response". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Families of Covid dead to take legal action to force inquiry". The Sunday Times. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021. A letter will be sent to the government this month on behalf of the group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, informing ministers that they will seek judicial review proceedings in the High Court. It is an attempt to force the hand of Boris Johnson, who has refused to hold an investigation into why Britain suffered the worst Covid-19 death toll in Europe, at more than 140,000 fatalities.
  10. ^ "Pressure mounts on Boris Johnson to launch coronavirus inquiry". The Guardian. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  11. ^ Parkin, Simon (28 April 2021). "Bereaved families criticise government's response to Covid inquiry calls". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  12. ^ Booth, Robert (27 January 2021). "'An insult': fury at claim ministers did all they could in Covid crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ^ Booth, Robert (17 March 2021). "Bereaved families issue legal ultimatum to Boris Johnson over Covid inquiry". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  14. ^ Goodman, Jo; Prudhoe, Kathryn de; Williams, Charlie (16 January 2021). "UK COVID-19 public inquiry needed to learn lessons and save lives". The Lancet. 397 (10270): 177–180. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32726-4. PMC 7832557. PMID 33357492.
  15. ^ Kmietowicz, Zosia (3 December 2020). "Covid-19: Bereaved families, unions, and charities demand immediate public inquiry to save lives". BMJ. 371: m4729. doi:10.1136/bmj.m4729. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 33272925.
  16. ^ Conn, David (29 April 2021). "Covid bereaved condemn government refusal to publish NHS 111 training content". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  17. ^ Conn, David (12 June 2020). "Bereaved relatives call for immediate inquiry into Covid-19 crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  18. ^ Booth, Robert (25 November 2020). "'We can't grieve': online forum where Covid bereaved feel they can share". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  19. ^ Ascroft, Cath (29 March 2021). "Bereaved want date for Scottish Covid public inquiry". The Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  20. ^ Crew, Jemma (26 April 2021). "Government has 'no capacity' now for inquiry, bereaved families told". Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Covid-19: Bereaved families disappointed by government response to inquiry". BBC News. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  22. ^ "PM will 'meet anybody' bereaved due to Covid-19". BBC News. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  23. ^ Iacobucci, Gareth (2 September 2020). "Covid-19: UK prime minister says he will only meet bereaved families when they drop threat of legal action". BMJ. pp. m3424. doi:10.1136/bmj.m3424. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Coronavirus: Campaigners reject PM's 'poor excuse' for not meeting them". BBC News. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  25. ^ a b O'Carroll, Lisa (29 April 2021). "Boris Johnson's night-time visit to memorial angers Covid bereaved". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  26. ^ Charlesworth, Tom (27 April 2021). "'The Government has to Listen to Us': Boris Johnson Dodges Seventh Invite to Meet the COVID Bereaved". Byline Times. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  27. ^ Sholli, Sam (13 April 2021). "Covid bereaved families group 'turned down seven times' for meeting with Government". LBC. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  28. ^ Martin, Amy-Clare; Crerar, Pippa (28 April 2021). "Boris Johnson slammed for visiting Covid victims' wall 'under cover of darkness'". The Mirror. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Johnson visited Covid Memorial Wall 'under the cover of darkness;". Express and Star. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  30. ^ Grylls, George (30 April 2021). "Boris Johnson visited pandemic memorial wall without meeting bereaved". The Times. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  31. ^ Buck, Kate (26 April 2021). "Government has 'no capacity' for Covid-19 inquiry, bereaved families told". LBC. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  32. ^ Reid, Alastair (27 April 2021). "Mourners share heartbreaking stories after Johnson's 'bodies pile high' quote". The Big Issue. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  33. ^ Brian, Lydia (29 April 2021). "It won't bring my dad back, but I want to know what Johnson really said about lockdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021. Instead, the hissy fits of Johnson and others around him meant the third lockdown was needlessly delayed, like the first and the second – and tens of thousands of people died as a result.
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