Councillor Janette Williamson moved and Councillor Paul Martin seconded a motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 13.

Councillor Jeff Green moved and Councillor Lesley Rennie seconded the following amendment, submitted in accordance with Standing Order 13.3:

Insert 5 paragraphs before paragraph 1,

‘Council notes the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced an independent public inquiry on a statutory basis with full powers, under the Inquiries Act of 2005, on 12th May 2021, he said it “would seek to scrutinise and learn lessons from all key aspects of the UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Council further notes that the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Hallett DBE was appointed as the Chair of the public inquiry on 15th December 2021. Baroness Hallett is a former Court of Appeal judge and has previously conducted a range of high-profile and complex inquests, inquiries and reviews, including acting as coroner for the inquests into the deaths of the 52 victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings and as chair of the Iraq Fatalities Investigations.

The inquiry’s terms of reference, developed by Baroness Hallett and published in June 2022, set out a series of aims including:

• Examining the public health response to the pandemic;
• Examining the response to the pandemic by the health and care services
• Examining the economic response to the pandemic, including government interventions;

Council also notes that the Inquiry is yet to cover: the setting up of a Vaccination Task Force, the purchase, at risk, of vaccines and the tremendous vaccination rollout programme. Council further notes the incredible business and public support provided by the Government during the pandemic, including the world-beating Furlough Scheme, is still yet to be examined by the Inquiry.

Council recalls Wirral’s businesses received £99.44 million of direct grant support from HM Government, passported through Wirral Council, to support them through the COVID 19 crisis’.

Insert two paragraphs after paragraph 7,

‘Council also commends the outstanding work, in response to the COVID 19 crisis, by the Council’s Senior Officers, all staff, Leader of the Council, Pat Hackett together with all Party Leaders, from the moment that British citizens were repatriated from Wuhan to Wirral in January 2020.

Council notes Pat Hackett stepped down from being a councillor and Leader of the Council in September 2020, and notes up to this point the officer and political leadership of the Council had been united in their non-partisan approach to the crisis’.

Insert 3 paragraphs and table after paragraph 8,

‘Council would welcome clarification from the proposer of this motion, and Leader of Wirral Council from September 2020, as to whether she has sought to inform the Public Inquiry and detail when she publicly dissented with the Government’s actions during the period of the pandemic and explain to the Inquiry how Wirral Council spent £107.20 million of  Coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency funding allocated to the Council from HM Government.

Council notes this funding was provided to enable local councils to fulfil a critical role during the pandemic, including: containing outbreaks; protecting the most vulnerable residents; maintaining vital services; and testing and protecting the population from COVID-19.

Finally, Council asserts its belief that it is good practice to allow any Inquiry to hear all the evidence and publish its findings before jumping to conclusions and seeking to apportion blame.’

Council debated the motion and amendment and the guillotine was applied at 9.30pm. The amendment was then put to the vote and was lost (16:43) (1 abstention).

The original motion was therefore put to the vote, and it was –

Resolved (43:16) (1 abstention) – That

 Council welcomes the Covid19 Inquiry as an opportunity for bereaved families, experts, and NHS/key workers to tell their truths in an open and public domain.

Council is mortified by the evidence of advisors and senior civil servants at the heart of government during the pandemic who variously described Boris Johnson to the covid enquiry as presiding over a chaotic, feral, and incompetent administration.[1] An administration which played fast and loose with people’s lives, rode roughshod over expert and academic advice, and poured billions of taxpayers’ money into PPE contracts for their friends and donors.  PPE which didn’t work and much of which needed to be destroyed [2].

Council condemns the contempt shown by senior government figures, including the past PM Boris Johnson, and the current PM Rishi Sunak when they casually and regularly disregarded their own rules during lockdown. Partying whilst the rest of the country did what was asked of them and missed funerals, bereavements, hugs and comfort.

Council condemns the statement by Boris Johnson – as reported by Special Advisor Dominic Cummings and confirmed by Edward Udny-Lister – Johnson’s Chief of Staff to ‘let the bodies pile high’[3]. Council condemns the view that Boris Johnson “was obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life…”, as shown to the Covid Inquiry from Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries [4].

Council is distressed that between 23 March 2020 and 20 October 2023 a total of 1,434 Wirral residents died of Covid, 326 in care homes[5]. Many of which might have been avoided with a responsible, compassionate, honest, and serious government. Instead, the most vulnerable were dismissed as collateral damage.

Council extends its wholehearted sympathy with all those families who have lost a loved one to Covid and hope they get closure of sorts from the Covid Inquiry.  We also extend our eternal gratitude for our tireless NHS staff, key workers, and care home staff.

Council requests that all Group Leaders write to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and ask for an apology for the way Wirral residents have been treated by his government during Covid.