To think spending money on enquiries is a waste…

[IDoWonderWhat]

Just that really. The Covid enquiry the Manchester arena enquiry.

Covid was a National pandemic. It’s unlikely we will have another pandemic like it. If we do have another medical pandemic the needs will not be the same and how we respond will depend on the rapid changing then current medical needs.

What happened in Manchester was awful. Terrorism is bigger than this one event.

The government has spent a significant amount on the enquires. What is the outcome though? How can we prepare for a pandemic we know nothing about? How can we fight terrorism that we can’t see coming?

Would this money not be better spent support people living with the impact of these events. For examples those struggling with long Covid or life changing medial conditions from the arena attack.

YANBU

Public Enquiries are far, far more about publically handing out blame than they are about stopping the same thing happening next time.

Investigations can and do take place quietly and for a lot less money.

Most are worth it.

The Covid enquiry is a farce.

It’s important to question why the COVID inquiry is pretending not to heed the most important factor - the lack of contingency planning throughout British life, that people responsible (not just politicians and senior civil servants) but also across the service sector just made it up on the hoof. Do you think it’ll happen again the next time around? Sure will…

Public Inquiries are absolutely needed. There are good ones and bad ones, largely depending on who the Chair is. The Chair of the Manchester Arena Inquiry was fabulous and pushed boundaries that eventually exposed that MI5 had lied to it and two other investigations before it, regarding what it knew about the bomber beforehand. It exposed that a year before the attack there was a joint exercise between the police, fire and ambulance services and the problems that happened in that exercise were repeated - nothing had been done to fix them. There was mass confusion over whether Operation Plato was called, the different services had different definitions of hot and cold zones and didn't know whether they could go in meaning only 3 ambulance personnel went into the City Room to provide medical care and the Fire Service waited for 2 hours to attend.

The Covid Inquiry has been less successful but has exposed when the powers that be knew that transmission was airborne but refused to recommend the correct PPE that would guard against it because the hadn't bought enough of them and they couldn't bear the panic that would cause. It has exposed the fact that the care sector was pretty much abandoned and 25,000 people were moved from hospitals to care homes despite knowing it would then spread like wildfire. It has exposed the lack of any contingency planning, the damage done by over a decade of austerity, health inequalities, the corruption in procurement and so much more. Oh and all the experts say another pandemic absolutely is coming but no government wants to be the one to pay to prepare for it.

At least read the reports (not just the headlines) before concluding they are a waste

I see your point, but personally, I view it as how would I feel if I'd lost a loved one in a tragic event? I'd want it fully investigated, every stone upturned, and every possible lesson learned.

Funnily enough, I remember discussing this topic with my dad YEARS ago. There was something about the parents of the Lockerbie bombing victims on the news. I said something to him along the lines of "why do they still keep on? It was years ago."
Dad just looked at me and said, "If it had been you killed in that, I'd have never stopped either."

If gave me whole new clarity, and formed the basis of the views I have now.