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An urgent inquiry into the UK government's handling of Covid-19 is indeed a priority as Una O'Brien persuasively argues and should begin at once. It needs to involve the devolved administrations too. It also needs to be conducted at pace as far as possible since the longer the inquiry sits the less impact it is likely to have. However, we live in a very different political climate from the one O'Brien inhabited - one where the government with a handsome majority is more committed to manipulating public opinion than informing it. Sadly our political discourse has become increasingly infantilised fuelled by No 10's approach to communication and managing the message. So, while an inquiry is needed and should proceed in the manner O'Brien sets out, let's be realistic about it's likely negligible impact on a government that prefers to go on the attack and undermine the way our system of government operates rather than admit mistakes in order to learn from them. Unless, that is, Covid-19 by some minor miracle triggers a change in our politics. Maybe it will, just as it has changed other aspects of our lives and possibly for the foreseeable future. Our political system is broken and badly in need to repair. Unless we fix it, an inquiry's findings will most likely be of value largely to the media and academia.