The Reform UK leader complained the Covid Inquiry, which was set up to learn lessons from the devastating pandemic that killed some 227,000 people, was too expensive
Bereaved families have condemned Nigel Farage for calling for the Covid Inquiry to be wound up.
The Reform leader complained the probe to learn lessons from the devastating pandemic was too expensive after figures showed the bill had exceeded £192 million in three years. The extensive inquiry, which was established in 2022, is expected to publish its final reports in 2027.
Around 227,000 people died in the UK with Covid-19 listed as one of the causes on their death certificate. Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said last year said another global pandemic was a “certainty”.
After figures were published Mr Farage told the Telegraph: “This is an outrageous cost and there will be no conclusion for years. It should be wound up quickly and conclusively.”
A spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said his comments were a “disgusting insult” to those who died and their grieving loved ones.
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The spokesperson said: “Our family members’ deaths were entirely avoidable; many died as a direct result of PPE shortages, discharges of Covid-positive patients into care homes or late lockdowns.
“Now, Farage wants to silence the bereaved, ‘wind up’ our only opportunity for Justice and get his mates in the establishment off the hook.”
“This inquiry has so far cost 0.01% of the government’s annual expenditure. That’s 0.01% to hold those responsible for the deaths of our loved ones accountable. 0.01% to learn lessons and save countless lives in the future.
“0.01% to investigate the most significant public health crisis in a generation, and a crisis that changed and impacted every single part of our lives.
“We know exactly why Nigel Farage, Ian Duncan Smith and other establishment figures have questioned this inquiry.
“Public inquiries give an opportunity for ordinary people like us to hold powerful people like them to account. They believe they are above that. We don’t and will continue to campaign for Justice for as long as it takes.”
A UK Covid-19 Inquiry spokesman said: “The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is unlike any previous public inquiry so any comparison is meaningless. It has a very broad scope, investigating a 2-year pandemic that affected everyone in society – over 65 million people in the UK.
“The Inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, has set out the substantial task faced by the Inquiry to consider and report on the preparations and the response to the pandemic in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“The public deserves a serious, thorough and comprehensive examination of the UK’s planning and response and that to do this properly will take time and have a significant cost.
“We are working quickly – and have already published our first report. The next, covering political decision-making, will be made public next month. More reports will follow in 2026 and Baroness Hallett intends to publish her tenth and final report in the first half of 2027.”