It is hard to describe the scale of the loss involved in over 100,000 Covid-19 deaths, with so many people having lost beloved family members and friends.

The UK has been the worst-hit country in the world in terms of death by population. It is right to ask questions about how we reached this point. Many will be surprised by the Prime Minister’s claim the Government did “everything it could” to respond to the pandemic.

Half of all Covid-19 deaths have occurred since November – by then we knew about Covid-19, how it spreads and what we needed to do to prevent it. How many of these lives could have been saved had the Government acted sooner?

Labour is absolutely committed to working constructively with the Government as we negotiate our way through this national crisis, but equally, it is our role as the official Opposition to hold the Prime Minister to account, as Keir Starmer did at Prime Minister’s Questions today. Boris Johnson needs to learn lessons fast if we are to prevent further tragedy.