‘This is a sorry state of affairs’: David Lammy lambasts the government for withholding Covid enquiry evidence
4 June 2023, 12:26
David has criticised the government for stopping Covid Inquiry investigators from accessing evidential Whatsapp messages, exclaiming: “She has been qualified as a lawyer since 1972, what more experience could you have.”
Following the news that the government plans to stop Baroness Hallett, the Covid Inquiry chair, from accessing unredacted WhatsApp messages, David began by telling listeners: “This is a sorry state of affairs…
"In this country, we have had inquiries into Hillsborough, Bloody Sunday, Grenfell, where I lost a dear friend, and of course I want the chair of that inquiry to be able to determine what he can see.”
“Do I want a company or the government to stop him seeing those documents? Of course, I don’t, that would not be right on behalf of the public.”
He then posed the question of the hour: “So what has this government got to hide?
“Why is it the first occasion where a prime minister has decided to challenge the chair on what she can and can’t see, it is for her to determine.”
Speaking about Judge Hallett David said: “She has been qualified as a lawyer since 1972, what more experience could you have?”
He sympathised with those listening: “There will be people listening for whom the period we experienced in this country was just terrifying because you didn’t just lose a one loved one, you lost many.
“It was terrifying because you had to watch funerals online, I watched the funeral of my uncle online."
“You could not even hold the hand of someone who was dying.”
He concluded with the question: “So if you lost a loved one during the pandemic, how does it make you feel that the Prime minister is stopping a proper inquiry?”