Tories demand SNP commit to Scottish Covid-19 inquiry – The Scotsman
The Scottish Conservatives have called on the Scottish Government to commit to holding a Scotland-specific inquiry into the handling of Covid-19.
The demand comes as it appeared the SNP had ‘rowed back’ on its manifesto pledge to hold a “statutory, person-centred and human rights based public inquiry” into the handling of the pandemic.
In a comment to The Sun, a spokesperson said it would be “engaging with the UK Government” around a potential “four-nations” inquiry into the handling of Covid-19.
It added that should this not begin within a year, only then would a Scottish inquiry be considered.
In the SNP’s manifesto, the party pledged: “‘We will commission a statutory, person centred and human rights based public inquiry into the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic in Scotland.
“We will make sure the voices of families who have lost loved ones are heard as part of establishing the inquiry and that they have an active role in the process.
“We will begin to take the necessary steps to establish the public inquiry as soon as possible after the election.”
“We will make sure the voices of families who have lost loved ones are heard as part of establishing the inquiry and that they have an active role in the process.
“We will begin to take the necessary steps to establish the public inquiry as soon as possible after the election.”
“Anything less than a specific inquiry in Scotland to learn the lessons from this crisis would be a dereliction of duty to grieving families. The Scottish Conservatives won cross-party support in Parliament in November calling for an inquiry into the scandal in our care homes, yet this has failed to be taken forward.
“SNP Ministers have shown a complacent attitude towards finding out what went wrong in our care home facilities. They must be pro-active and urgently commit to a public inquiry to ensure we never leave vulnerable people unprotected in this way ever again.”
The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.