Covid inquiry is asking the wrong questions

The determined efforts to turn the Covid inquiry into a politically charged event began to materialise with the appearance yesterday of David Cameron, the former prime minister. He was questioned about the preparations made by his government for a possible pandemic.

Even before he had taken the stand, the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested his austerity programme was to blame for the “disastrous” failings of the NHS during the pandemic.

Cuts had left the service unprepared, Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA chairman, said. Cameron’s government had so “ground down and pulled apart public health systems” that the NHS “didn’t stand a fighting chance”.

It is of deep concern that the BMA has been designated a “core participant” in the inquiry, which means it has powers to suggest questions and apply to question witnesses. These seem likely to fixate on funding, which rose under the Coalition, though evidently not by enough in the view of the BMA. Experience suggests that no increase, however great, would satisfy the union.

Why does it not question whether the health service’s groaning bureaucracy left it vulnerable? Or ask why countries like Germany had far more intensive care beds than the UK provided through its insurance-based system? Or consider whether telling people to avoid using the NHS and shutting GP surgery doors might not have been disastrous.

If the inquiry is going to examine the structure of the NHS, it might open up a much-needed debate about long-term reform. But if the unions are allowed to hijack the narrative then it will be a pretty pointless exercise.