If there is a public inquiry into Covid-19, what will it look like?

Nick Dickinson draws on previous inquiries to discuss what a public one into the Covid-19 crisis may look like. Public inquiries have been called ‘Britain’s favoured mechanism for ascertaining the facts after any major breakdown or controversy’. Based on this record, and the small but fascinating literature on the topic, what can we conclude about what a Covid-19 inquiry will look like? A public inquiry into Covid-19 is not as inevitable as you thinkThe establishment of an inquiry may often seem inevitable, but not all major incidents are subject to one. A Covid-19 inquiry thus may well trigger a broader reassessment of assumptions about what hazards government is responsible for preventing.