The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, suggested he wanted the inquiry to begin in less than 12 months, asking in parliament: “Why can it not be later this year? Why can it not start earlier?”Downing Street confirmed that spring 2022 would be the start of the inquiry process, not the deadline for evidence to begin, meaning actual hearings will only start some time later. At the time, the government said an immediate inquiry would be wrong given the UK was still in lockdown. Johnson signalled the inquiry probably would not start before next spring because there was a high likelihood that Covid cases would increase again in the winter. He confirmed the inquiry would not begin before spring next year, but denied this was an excessive delay, or was intended to push its findings beyond another general election.

Source: The Guardian May 12, 2021 11:42 UTC