Letters: Who will benefit from this ludicrously drawn-out, costly Covid inquiry?

SIR – I read with horror that the Covid inquiry has already cost £114 million (report, March 18), with 150 lawyers involved, and could take up to seven years to complete.

None of this will bring back my husband, or the many others who died. The inquiry is at risk of being a huge waste of time and money – from which nothing is learnt.

Ruth Bragman
Kingston Hill, Surrey

SIR – Relying on the advice of public-health doctors was not only the undoing of politicians, but also the cause of one of the most serious restrictions of civil liberties in British history.

I cannot understand why so much money and so many lawyers are necessary to find that the mismanagement of the Covid pandemic was characterised by a combination of ignorance and incompetence.

David Nunn FRCS
Port Isaac, Cornwall

SIR – As a confirmed cynic, I would echo Ian Robinson’s views on the Covid inquiry (Letters, March 20).

Furthermore, I would observe that one of our great growth industries is inquiries. Creating months – if not years – of employment for the legal profession, these inquiries contribute nothing to the economy, seldom reach firm conclusions and rarely apportion blame.

All too often the guilty are rewarded for failure, and taxpayers’ hard-earned cash is squandered.

David Hutchinson
Nutley, East Sussex

SIR – Would it not be more pragmatic and economic to cut proceedings short?

A report could be published in the category of fiction, finding all those involved in this unholy national health fiasco blameless as regards any criminal negligence, money-wasting, cronyism, corruption, cover-ups or breaches of the law.

That way, at least, we could all vent our collective spleens knowing that no more public money was going to be wasted.

Kim Potter
Lambourn, Berkshire

SIR – Surely all we need to know is that everyone – except, perhaps, Sweden – got it wrong.

Ian Lewis
Wannock, East Sussex

SIR – What is the use of spending so much time and money on this inquiry? Why is it not possible to produce a one-year study containing a list of lessons to be learnt?

There could then be a rerun of Exercise Cygnus, testing our readiness for a future pandemic, but with a crucial difference – the results would be acted upon, and the necessary preparations made.

This might mean that, when the inevitable occurs, we are actually able to deal with it.

Neil Kerr
Pontrilas, Herefordshire