The most senior Welsh politician in the UK Government has attacked the Welsh Government for not having a Wales specific Covid inquiry.
Despite being responsible for the overwhelming majority of the Covid response in Wales, Mark Drakeford has repeatedly rejected calls for the to be a Welsh inquiry into the Welsh Government's handling of Covid. He has argued that it is impossible to understand the decisions made in Wales without seeing it in a UK wide context.
However the families of people who died during the pandemic are furious at what they perceive as dodging scrutiny - you can see their moving stories here. A WalesOnline special report outlined all the areas that a Welsh specific inquiry needed to look at to assess the Welsh Government's performance which you can view here.
Speaking today at the Welsh Affairs Committee in London, secretary of state for Wales David TC Davies said that he was very suprised the Welsh Government refused to hold a Covid inquiry. "This surprises me greatly because it was made very clear to me throughout the period of the pandemic that Wales was going to take full responsibility for its handling of the COVID crisis" he said. He added that because the Welsh Government took different decisions to the UK Government "it doesn't make sense to me, given that Wales is has taken that view, which is it's legal, right. But it's not willing to also undertake an inquiry, certainly into the the aspects of the response for which it was fully responsible."
He went on to say that he believed that this reinforced a perception of a lack of openness around decisions based on health in Wales. Referencing the issues in the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board Mr Davies said: "I think that the failure to hold an inquiry in Wales into the aspects of the Covid response for which Welsh Government took full responsibility will, in some people's minds reinforce the feeling that there is a site lack of openness around the way in which the health service is dealt with.
"I think really, there needs to be a great deal of scrutiny. The UK Government made it quite clear we're up to scrutiny, we're up to scrutiny for our record of dealing with the Covid pandemic. I think most government should do the same. If people aren't willing to accept and acknowledge a problem and instead, try and suppress any legitimate criticism I don't think you can ever get to the bottom of a problem and resolve it."
