07 June 2023 , 23:01
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Members of the public are being urged from today to share their experiences of the Covid crisis directly with the official inquiry.
Baroness Heather Hallett, the chairwoman of the probe, said the testimonies will help shape her recommendations so the UK is better prepared in the future.
She stressed "every single story will matter" and will allow people to provide evidence without the formality of physically attending a public hearing.
She added: "The pandemic affected every single person in the UK and, in many cases, continues to have a lasting impact on lives. Yet every experience is unique."
Baroness Hallett said all the submissions will be anonymised and "used to identify trends and themes as well as particular experiences which may illustrate systemic failures".
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Launched today the project - Every Story Matters - will also involve inquiry members travelling around the UK to hear stories from people in-person at community events.
Baroness Hallett said 'every single story will matter'Groups representing the bereaved, disabled people, and older people are also urging the public to participate and share their stories with the inquiry.
It comes as Labour's Deputy leader Angela Rayner accused ministers of wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash on "loophole" lawyers.
Last week the Cabinet Office blocked the release of unredacted WhatsApp messages from senior figures involved in the Covid response, including Boris Johnson, to the inquiry.
Instead ministers have launched a judicial review seeking to overrule the inquiry's demands.
Addressing Deputy PM Oliver Dowden during Deputy Prime Minister's Questions, Ms Rayner blasted: "He pretends that it's complicated but it's simple.
"They set up the inquiry to get to the truth, then blocked that inquiry from getting the information that it asked for and now they're taking it to court.
"I know he considers himself a man of the people, so using his vast knowledge of working class Britain, does he think working people will thank him for spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money on loophole lawyers, just so the Government can obstruct the Covid inquiry?"
Deputy PM Oliver Dowden faces Labour's Deputy leader Angela Rayner at PMQs on Wednesday (PA)Mr Dowden, who was standing in for Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister's Questions while he visits the US, said all Government Covid-related discussions would be handed to the inquiry.
He repeated the Cabinet Office's assertion that some information in Mr Johnson's WhatsApp conversations were "wholly and unambiguously irrelevant" and needed to be withheld.
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The senior minister said: "We will provide the inquiry with each and every document related to Covid, including all internal discussions in any form as requested, while crucially protecting what is wholly and unambiguously irrelevant.
"Because essentially (Lady Hallett) is calling for years worth of documents and messages between named individuals to be in scope and that could cover anything from civil servants' medical conditions to intimate details about their families."
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