The Labour MP for Gorton has recently spoken about the personal ramifications of Covid-19.
Speaking at the House of Commons, Afzal Khan said, "In my family we have lost an entire generation. I couldn't hold my mum's hand as she lay dying'.
Afzal Khan told fellow MPs he had lost both parents and his mother-in-law to the virus as he called on the Prime Minister to hold a public inquiry so “grieving families like mine” could find out “if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy”.
He further said, "A year into this crisis and more than 126,000 lives have been lost. Behind this staggering figure are millions grieving their loved ones. In my family we have lost an entire generation. I couldn't hold my mum's hand as she lay dying and I recently lost both my father and my mother-in-law within days of one another. Grieving families like mine want and deserve to know what happened and if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy.
"So will the Prime Minister today commit to launching a full public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic as soon as current restrictions are lifted?"
The Prime Minister said he was “committed” to holding an inquiry but didn't provide a timescale.
He noted, "I know that the whole house shares my sympathies and my sorrow for his loss and we sympathise with his entire family. I know that his experience is one which has been shared by far too many families up and down the country.
"That is why we are of course committed, as soon as it's right to do so, as soon as it wouldn't be an irresponsible diversion of the key officials involved, we are of course committed to an inquiry, to learn the lessons, to make sure that something like this could never happen again."
