The bereaved Scots calling for criminal investigations after bombshell UK Covid Inquiry report

Scottish Covid Bereaved, which represents families north of the Border, issued the statement in the wake of the first UK Covid Inquiry report publish on Thursday, which found citizens were “failed” by the UK and Scottish governments. The group had already called for investigations into alleged criminality within care homes.

Aamer Anwar, the human rights lawyer representing Scottish Covid Bereaved, said: “The same position applies to any individual or institution that failed in their duty of care. It is imperative that both the Crown Office and Crown Prosecution Service carry out robust investigations into those who stand accused of shameful dereliction of duty that cost lives, and that should be in all four nations [of the United Kingdom].”

Mr Anwar added: “The UK government and devolved nations failed in their most fundamental duty in protecting the lives of their citizens. What took place was corporate homicide on an industrial scale, yet many of those responsible have never truly faced justice.

“Today my clients, the Scottish Covid Bereaved, welcome the findings and recommendations of the public inquiry. It has been robust and ruthless, but we still have a long way to go in the search for truth and ultimately justice and a legacy for the many thousands whose lives were taken from them.”

The UK government has since vowed to improve the UK’s “national resilience” after the Inquiry found there were “significant flaws” in preparing for a pandemic.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told MPs he would lead a review of the country’s “national resilience against the range of risks that the UK faces”.

Making a statement on Friday following the Covid Inquiry’s first report into preparedness for a pandemic, Mr McFadden said it painted a “stark” picture on the condition of public services.

The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, said there was a “damaging absence of focus” on the measures and infrastructure that would be needed to deal with a fast-spreading disease, even though a coronavirus outbreak at pandemic scale “was foreseeable”.

Mr McFadden said: “We can only begin to imagine the anguish and the anger that people feel, because this report confirms what many have always believed - that the country was not as prepared as it should have been, That more could and should have been done.”

The Labour MP added: “The underlying picture this report sets out is stark. Before the pandemic began, our public services were already stretched to their limit during what should have been normal times. This was especially true of the NHS.

“Overstretched even before the pandemic hit, key workers in other services, overburdened in normal times, were then asked to go above and beyond. A nation can only be as resilient as the foundational strength of its infrastructure and public services.

“So as I stand here today, with eight million people on NHS waiting lists, prisons overflowing, councils pushed to the brink and public services in a worse position than they were even in 2020, we must ensure that we are prepared.”