Something rather significant happened this week and it was as disappointing as it was enlightening. A year since Covid restrictions were lifted in Wales, our most senior Welsh Government Ministers and current and former health officials appeared before the public inquiry set up to ‘examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and learn lessons for the future’.
It’s welcome that we are finally shedding at least some light on critical questions which have thus far largely remained unanswered. However what’s rather remarkable is that the evidence was heard not in Wales, but in London, and before an inquiry set up by another Government - a government whose approach to the pandemic was at the very least suspect, and which has now lost all legitimacy to govern.
Meanwhile in Scotland, the judge-led inquiry investigating the devolved strategic response to the pandemic is beginning its work this month. In Wales, it seems that scrutiny really is the hardest word.
