Boris chaos led to needless deaths of those we loved

THE sudden and traumatic upheaval of the first national lockdown in March 2020 is an experience none would ever wish to repeat.

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We were told at the time there was no alternative to shops closing, schools shutting their doors and everyday activities being brought to a halt.

Lockdown was portrayed as something we were in together - in reality, the poorest and most socially isolated paid the highest costs.

Those stuck in small one-bedroom flats with no garden had to follow the same suffocatingly restrictive rules as those living in spacious detached houses.

And yet, as the UK Covid Inquiry set out yesterday, lockdown could have been avoided. If steps such as social distancing and isolating those with Covid symptoms - and their households - had been introduced earlier, then we might not have had to make our homes become our prisons.