Defence lawyers for the Covid-19 public inquiry are set to cost government departments £35.5 million, the Mirror has reported. The inquiry itself, to be chaired by Baroness Hallett, a retired English judge of the Court of Appeal and a crossbench life peer, will spend under a third of that total on legal services, as the truth behind the UK's response to the Coronavirus pandemic is uncovered.
The second phase of the inquiry began last week, considering the impact of "political and administrative" decision-making, making it a particularly consequential portion of the proceedings for the government. Alongside demanding evidence from most government departments, the inquiry's lawyers said they had asked for “records of written and oral advice to ministers and details of internal communications including a WhatsApp group, which included the Prime Minister, Number 10 and other senior officials.”
In total the Cabinet Office, which includes the Prime Minister, spent the most on defence, with law firm Pinsent Masons making a tasty total with a £7 million contract. The Business department is not far behind as it rakes out the funds for two contracts with TLT, one costing £6million, with the other for £600,000 to cover the Government Office for Science, including the SAGE scientific advisory body.
