Angela Rayner comments on the UK's Covid-19 death toll passing 200,000

Angela Rayner MP, Labour's Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, commenting on the UK's Covid-19 death toll passing 200,000, said:

"This is a tragic milestone for our country and all those who have lost loved ones.

"The public deserves transparency about how the UK Government handled Covid.

"The Covid public inquiry cannot begin its work soon enough. There can be no excuses for not ensuring ministers are held accountable for their decisions."

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Notes to editors:

• 'Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional: week ending 1 July 2022' - ONS, 13 July