Tory-linked PR firm is no longer working on Covid inquiry, lawyer confirms
Involvement of 23Red seems to have discouraged bereaved families from engaging with inquiry’s ‘listening exercise’
The UK’s official Covid-19 inquiry is “no longer working with” PR firm 23Red after openDemocracy revealed its links to the government amid fears of a conflict of interest.
Speaking on Tuesday at a preliminary hearing, lead counsel Hugo Keith KC announced that 23Red would have no further involvement with the ‘Every Story Matters’ evidence-gathering exercise.
openDemocracy revealed in February that both 23Red and M&C Saatchi – which subcontracted 23Red – have ongoing links to the government. 23Red is currently contracted to do £2m worth of work for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), and has provided past work for other government departments.
The firms’ appointment made the ‘listening exercise’ – now known as ‘Every Story Matters’ – controversial. Bereaved families told openDemocracy they did not feel comfortable engaging with a process that involved government-linked PR firms, and would rather face the inquiry in person; sure enough, Thalia Maragh, a lawyer for Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, told the inquiry today that a number of families who lost loved ones in the pandemic had chosen to steer clear of Every Story Matters.
The scandal deepened this week when it emerged that not one of the 20 witnesses put forward by Covid Bereaved Families for Justice had been accepted to give evidence in the first module, investigating whether the UK was adequately prepared for the pandemic.
Nor will they be invited to give evidence in the second module, focusing on the government’s response to Covid-19, it was confirmed today.
Last month, the inquiry appeared to distance itself from both 23Red and M&C Saatchi, stating in an official document that it was looking for “new partners” to continue the firms’ work with bereaved families.
Keith made no mention today of M&C Saatchi, which orchestrated the government’s ‘Better Health’ obesity campaign during the pandemic and worked on the Conservative Party’s 2010 manifesto.
Rivka Gottlieb, a spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign, told openDemocracy in February: “The inquiry is supposed to be investigating the huge contracts given out to the likes of 23Red, not replicating them.” 23Red and M&C Saatchi were expected to receive £800,000 between them for working on the inquiry.
Ruby Lott-Lavigna
Ruby Lott-Lavigna
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