The UK’s Covid-19 inquiry was set up to uncover the truth. So why are bereaved people being silenced?

‘Boris Johnson had reluctantly approved a further lockdown on 31 October 2020, and four weeks later it was lifted.’ Photograph: Reuters

“No more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands,” Boris Johnson is alleged to have said in the months leading up to Christmas 2020.

In December that year, healthcare professionals and scientists were incredulous at the scenario; rising Covid deaths, increased infection rates and the Johnson government’s commitment for England to have an unrestricted Christmas.