The government should set time limits for public inquiries and “not let them go on for years and years”, Harriet Harman has said.
The Labour peer told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast it is “perfectly possible for them to get on and do their job quickly”.
Speaking after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an inquiry into the Southport attack, Ms Harman said it should take “18 months, 18 months max”.
Harriet Harman said the government should impose time limits on inquiries
There are several public inquiries currently ongoing, including the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, the infected blood inquiry and the COVID inquiry.
The Post Office inquiry, looking at the wrongful conviction of hundreds of postmasters and mistresses due to faulty IT software, started in 2020 and was extended in 2021 and given powers to compel witnesses and demand evidence. It is still going on.
The infected blood inquiry, looking into blood infected with hepatitis C and HIV given to tens of thousands of people, began in 2019 and a report was published in 2024.
And the COVID inquiry, looking at the government’s actions during the pandemic, started in June 2022 and is ongoing.
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A national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal was published in 2022 – it took seven years and cost £200m.
Ms Harman said there should be time limits so people get answers.
“The government should actually lay down time limits for public inquiries and not let them go on for years and years like the COVID one, like the blood, the infected blood scandal, like the Post Office one,” she said.
“People want answers much more quickly than they’re getting, and it’s within the government’s power to do that.”