LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that an independent public inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic will start hearing evidence next year. While welcoming the announcement, a leading group representing the bereaved thinks it should begin sooner. Johnson told lawmakers that the inquiry will have wide-ranging statutory powers and that the government has a responsibility to learn lessons from the pandemic after more than 127,500 died as a result of the coronavirus, Europe’s highest death toll. For around a year, Johnson has resisted calls from families of those who have died during the pandemic to call an inquiry since last summer arguing that the time wasn’t right.
