Video
Vote Leave board member and Boris Johnson ally offers to lead coronavirus inquiry
Bernard Jenkin appears on Politics Live. Photograph: BBC. - Credit: Archant
An ally of Boris Johnson, and a former Vote Leave board member, has offered to lead an inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, who caused a stir when he was appointed chair of the all-important Commons scrutiny committee, appeared on Politics Live with support for holding an investigation.
He said: 'I think a very important development is the open letter in the British Medical Journal, from the health leaders saying let's have an inquiry now to learn the lessons of what's happened over the last few months, so that we are better prepared if there is another peak.
'I think there should be an inquiry and maybe they want the politicians to be involved, they wanted the cross-party, and four nations.'
You may also want to watch:
But he dismissed the suggestion it should be fully independent, instead pointing to the example of the inquiry into banking standards.
Most Read
- 1 The greatest failure of government in our lifetime
- 2 Jacob Rees-Mogg claims fish captured after Brexit deal came into effect were 'British and happier for it'
- 3 Matt Hancock praises free school meals before being reminded he voted against them
- 4 James O'Brien schools Brexiteer who refuses to accept new EU-UK trade rules
- 5 Katie Hopkins joins UKIP in time for leadership contest
- 6 Brexiteer MP ridiculed after calling for free movement of goods between GB and NI
- 7 What Remainers should have done differently
- 8 Scottish fishing boats ditch UK waters for Denmark to escape Brexit red tape
- 9 The polling that signals the plight of the Union
- 10 Spokesman indicates Boris Johnson has not read Brexit trade deal text
He continued: 'Maybe it should be like the banking standards commission that Andrew Tyrie chaired in parliament after the banking crisis or maybe the liaison committee which I chair to conduct such an inquiry.'
On the suggestion he was angling for an inquiry to be led by himself and his own committee, he said: 'It will be up to the government to decide how they want to conduct this inquiry but we do need a public lessons learning exercise now in order to be better prepared for what's in the future and for the public to have confidence that the government will be better prepared so we can learn the lessons that clearly should have been learnt which the opposition is entitled to ask about.'
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
