Pressure mounts on Boris Johnson to launch coronavirus inquiry

Exclusive: scientific advisers and ex-Whitehall chief join bereaved families, medics and ethnic minority leaders in calling for inquiry

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Senior doctors, government scientific advisers and a former head of the civil service have spoken out in favour of a public inquiry into the UK's handling of Covid-19, raising pressure on Boris Johnson to finally launch the process as the UK's coronavirus fatalities rose to almost 126,000.

Thousands of bereaved families, nurses and ethnic minority leaders also backed calls for an inquiry into everything from lockdown tactics to test and trace after the UK's handling of the pandemic resulted in the worst death toll per capita of any of the world's large economies.