Your report about the start of the Covid-19 inquiry notes the concern of some of the bereaved that their testimonies are to be heard by an outsourced communications company and that they feel “marginalised” because they expected to give direct evidence to the inquiry (Covid-19 public inquiry opens amid anger from bereaved over testimony, 4 October).
Apart from wondering why the chair, Lady Hallett, didn’t start the public phase with some of these testimonies as a mark of respect and intent, her response to Pete Weatherby KC, representing the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, is deeply worrying: “There is absolutely no question that the bereaved will be marginalised and I really don’t want to hear that expression again.”
