In Open Democracy today:

The UK government’s response to the pandemic must be judged on the number of Covid-related deaths, the lead counsel for the UK’s independent inquiry into the pandemic has said.

Hugo Keith said module two of the inquiry, which started today, will consider whether the UK government’s “momentous decisions”, particularly during the period between January 2020 and March 2020, served the public well or failed them.

“How is this to be measured?” asked Keith. “If the protection of life is the preeminent duty which any government owes to the people, then the number of those who died is the marker against which the government’s response must be judged.”

He added: “The prevention of death should arguably have been the government’s primary obligation.”

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/covid-inquiry-module-2-boris-johnson-government-response/

Unavoidably, this must lead to questions about the different death rates in the 4 nations:

Looking at the 3 mainland nations, there are significant differences between the death rates in countries where, after 31 March 2020, the devolved governments could control messaging consistency and the strategy of, in particular, lockdowns, school and hospitality closures and, later, of vaccination rollout.

The Scottish Government tended to adopt more consistent messaging, locked down quicker and for longer, closed schools and hospitality more and made a determined effort to vaccinate in care homes ahead of all other groups.

The death rate in Conservative-run England has been 4% higher*, losing around 20 000 more lives than would have been the case adopting Scottish measures and, in Scotland, saving around 2 000 lives.

The death rate in Labour-run Wales has been a shocking 16% higher, losing around 2 000 more lives than would have been the case adopting Scottish measures.

• We know from ONS research on drug deaths that death certification in England is commonly less detailed than in Scotland. Consequently the death rate in England due to Covid may be significantly higher and closer to the Welsh level. https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/blog/comparability-of-drug-related-death-statistics-across-the-united-kingdom/