MCF Official Statement on the findings of the latest UK Covid-19 inquiry report

Muslim Charities Forum expresses grave concern over the findings of the latest UK Covid-19 inquiry report, which highlights the government’s failure to take “sufficiently timely and effective action” during the pandemic.

We are particularly alarmed by the report’s conclusion that ethnic minority communities were disproportionately impacted, experiencing significantly higher rates of infection and mortality as a direct consequence of government inaction.

The report underscores that these communities were especially vulnerable due to pre-existing health inequalities, as well as structural socio-economic disadvantages such as living in overcrowded housing and working in low-paid, high contact employment. Despite these well-documented disparities, the government failed to implement a targeted strategy to protect those most at risk, meaning these communities bore the brunt of the crisis.

MCF strongly endorses the report’s recommendation that the government enact Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010: the socio-economic duty, which requires public bodies to consider how their decisions can reduce inequalities linked to socio-economic disadvantage. This is critical to ensuring that policymakers “understand the lives of those who face disadvantage and address systematically the factors that contribute to harm” during national emergencies, so as to mitigate hardship and suffering for communities across the country.