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Boris Johnson says he will meet with a group of families grieving the coronavirus when his “litigation” with the government has “concluded.”
But Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice says that it is “simply not true” that they are in litigation with the government and that it is a “bad excuse”.
They have reiterated their demand for a meeting with the prime minister to discuss his call for an investigation into the pandemic.
Downing Street said it had nothing to add to the prime minister’s comments.
Families grieving for Covid-19 justice say they have written to Mr. Johnson five times to request a meeting.
When asked about the letters, in a live television interview last week, the prime minister said that “of course” he would meet anyone grieving Covid-19.
But days later, he wrote to the group to say that he “couldn’t” meet with them.
‘Frustration’
The group, which claims to represent 1,600 families, said it was “devastated” to receive the letter, which it has made public.
In Questions from the Prime Minister, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, who met with the group in July, asked if Johnson would change his mind, saying that the prime minister “will understand the frustration and pain of those families for having said one thing to the camera and another “. thing for them. “
Mr. Johnson said: “Of course I would be very happy to meet the families of the grieving and to deeply sympathize with all those who have lost loved ones during this pandemic and we all feel their pain and pain.”
“It turns out that this particular group is currently in litigation with the government. I will certainly meet with them once the litigation is over.”
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Elkan Abrahamson, an attorney for Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, said it is “simply not true” that the group is in litigation with the government.
The group is considering requesting a judicial review of the decision not to conduct an immediate investigation into the pandemic.
‘Save lives’
On August 26, he sent the government’s legal department a “pre-action letter” requesting a meeting with the Prime Minister, saying that “families want to resolve these issues without resorting to litigation.”
Mr. Abrahamson said that the group had not yet received a response to this letter.
“Even if there was litigation, the parties are always encouraged to meet in person to try to resolve their differences, so I don’t see that as an excuse,” he added.
In his letter to the group, Mr. Johnson said that because they had briefed the attorneys and were “engaged in pre-action correspondence”, all further correspondence on the matter “should go through the respective legal teams.”
“I understand that the Government Legal Department will respond to your most recent letter on this matter within the timeframe you requested,” he added.
Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, who lost her father Stuart to the virus, said: “It feels like we’re the wrong kind of grieving people, like the prime minister just wants to meet with the mourners. people who won’t ask tough questions.
“There is no legal action taking place, so that cannot be the reason why he will not meet with us.
“So will you commit to meeting with us now so that we can share our experiences on serious issues, from deaths in nursing homes to inadequate protective equipment, that can help you learn crucial lessons and save lives?”
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice calls for a statutory, independent, and judge-led public investigation into coronavirus deaths, which it wants to begin imminently.
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A Downing Street spokesman previously said that the prime minister remained committed to meeting with people who have lost their grief as a result of Covid-19 and that he was “resolute in his determination to defeat this virus” to avoid further “dire losses.”
In July, the prime minister vowed to conduct an independent investigation into the pandemic, but has repeatedly said the time was not right.
How could it be a query?
Independent consultations can take many forms, from full public consultations that can take years, or in some cases decades, and cost millions of pounds; to smaller-scale and faster investigations.
The idea is to hold the powerful accountable and try to learn lessons from decisions that have gone wrong, and how to avoid a repeat of scandals and tragic events in the future.
Recent examples of judge-led investigations include Leveson’s investigation into media standards, or the ongoing investigation into the Grenfell Tower catastrophe.
Other investigations, such as the 2009 Iraq investigation, led by a retired senior official, Sir John Chilcot, do not take evidence under oath.
The government in office is normally expected to adopt many, if not all, of the recommendations of an official investigation, although this is not always the case in practice.
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