Covid inquiry will ask whether Brexit impacted UK’s pandemic response

THE Covid inquiry will begin by asking whether Brexit impacted the UK’s pandemic response — to Eurosceptics’ dismay.

The first stage will see witnesses quizzed by chairwoman Baroness Hallett’s lawyers about the decade leading up to the pandemic.

One line of questioning will look at whether the UK’s level of “planning and preparedness” for a pandemic was affected by leaving the EU.

The probe will also investigate public health bodies and whether they were ready for Covid as the Brussels exit began.

But Tory MP David Jones said: “We did much better in the pandemic by leaving the EU.

“The first vaccine in Europe was in the UK.

“I hope the inquiry reflects this.”