Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told MPs that an independent public inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic will be held in spring 2022.

Johnson said that the government was ‘fully committed to learning the lessons at every stage of this crisis’, but opposition leaders have questioned why the inquiry cannot begin sooner.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group has been lobbying for a meeting with the Prime Minister since last summer, and for the launch of an urgent independent investigation into the pandemic. The group has been calling for the inquiry to begin this summer, saying that learning lessons from the pandemic ‘is critical to saving lives now and in the future’.

However, pointing to the threat of new coronavirus variants and a possible winter surge in infections, Johnson told the Commons that spring would be the best time to hold the inquiry.