Covid-19 Inquiry Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Covid-19 Inquiry

Baroness Chakrabarti Excerpts
Thursday 8th June 2023

(1 year, 5 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Chakrabarti Portrait Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)
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My Lords, I wonder what kind of example the Government think they are setting for other parties to litigation or, indeed, to judicial inquiries. The noble Lord, Lord Wallace, deserved a better answer; who is the ultimate arbiter of what is relevant when that is in dispute? Is it the Government or the trusted senior judge?

Baroness Neville-Rolfe Portrait Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
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Of course we trust the senior judge. She has control over what she decides within the framework of the inquiry, as we have been discussing, which has advantages and disadvantages. In the judicial review, we are addressing the narrow point of whether it is right to provide unambiguously irrelevant material. This could cover anything from civil servants’ or families’ medical conditions to matters totally unconnected with the Government’s handling of Covid. It seems right to have a ruling on how that should be handled, not least given the implications for future inquiries and future Governments.