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Families who lost their loved ones to Covid were victims of “failures of the state” which must not be repeated, a leading Cabinet minister has told campaigners.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden MP was addressing an event by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice in Parliament, in a symbolic moment that saw the leading grassroots group backed by the new Government.
McFadden, who serves as the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office – which coordinates disaster planning across Government – told the bereaved families that Britain went into the Covid pandemic in 2020 with public services “already stretched to breaking point” and badly exposed to even minor shocks.
“Pre-existing health and social inequalities had a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups, including ethnic minorities, people who were elderly and frail, and those with existing health conditions”, he said.
“These are weaknesses and vulnerabilities often caused by inequality,” the Cabinet minister said, in a marked shift in tone from the previous Government.
McFadden, a close ally of Keir Starmer, has launched a review into ‘national resilience’ – how the machinery of Government prepares for disasters.
“That work is underway, and I think it’s really important that the experience of vulnerable groups and the experience of different communities is built into the policy all the way through, and not just bolted on at the end,” he said.
His appearance was viewed as an endorsement of the years of campaigning for justice, often being ignored by Conservative ministers or shut out by officials.
The Cabinet Office minister admitted there were “failures of the state” across all different parts of the UK, and “under different Governments and administrations.”
“Now that we’re in Government, I think the best thing that we can do to honour the memory of the loved ones of the people in this room is to make sure that we try and learn for the future and to try to be better prepared for whatever comes next”, McFadden said.
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The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice event brought together bereaved families, MPs, and campaigners for the launch of 22 new recommendations for change from the organisation, to better prepare for a future pandemic. Calls for change include addressing health inequalities, improving data transparency, and establishing strong oversight bodies for health agencies and Government departments.
And the group is demanding closer collaboration between central government, devolved administrations, and local authorities, something minister McFadden also committed to.
The UK suffered the second worst death toll in Western Europe during the Covid pandemic, in what Labour MP Afzal Khan said was due to public services being “decimated” leading up to the pandemic, as well as worsening health inequalities.
Khan told attendees in Parliament’s Jubilee Room: “When my mother was passing away [during the pandemic], I was sitting in the hospital car park, and I could not go and hold her hand. I share that pain with all families who have lost their loved ones. It has been difficult for all of us.” The Labour MP also lost both parents-in-law during the pandemic.
He pointed to a 2016 Government report that warned of the UK’s unpreparedness for a pandemic, but which was kept secret until six months into the Covid-19 crisis.
“There is no doubt we will have another pandemic. The only question is when and what actions we need to take now to prepare,” the Manchester MP said.
Deborah Coles, the CEO of campaigning organisation Inquest highlighted a lack of accountability when it comes to implementing recommendations from inquiries and public inquests, following deaths linked to failings of the state.
The group is demanding a new ‘National Oversight Mechanism’ to collate and monitor the implementation of recommendations from inquests, to drive change and prevent future deaths.
Green MP Carla Denyer is proposing her own backbench legislation to make this happen, though it is unlikely to secure time for debate.
However, Keir Starmer has pledged to implement a new ‘Hillsborough Law’ early next year, named after the football disaster in 1989 that killed 97 people. It would create a duty on public bodies and officials to be truthful in their evidence to inquiries.
Lawyers involved with Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, including HIllsborough inquest lawyer Elkan Abrahamson, are helping to draft the legislation.
Abrahamson backed Inquest’s call for a new National Oversight Mechanism for acting on the findings of coroners, a “proper whistleblower act” to protect those reporting wrongdoing within organisations, “refined and enforceable” Nolan principles on standards in public life, with potential criminal sanctions for those who don’t comply.
Bereaved families made clear their motivation is to prevent others from experiencing the same unnecessary loss of loved ones they have faced.
The Covid-19 inquiry’s Module 1 report, released in July, backed up many of the concerns raised by bereaved families about pandemic planning, making clear that the Government was unprepared for the crisis, and the disproportionate impacts it had on vulnerable groups.
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Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
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