Why Did the UK Government Waste £4 Billion on the Innova Lateral Flow Test?

An Innova SARS-CoV-2 antigen test kit is seen at the NHS vaccination center in Robertson House, Jan. 14, 2021 in Stevenage, England. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Today is the first day of the multi-million pound COVID-19 Inquiry set up to “examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future.”

The irony is that one of the most important questions centered around the UK’s COVID-19 response will probably never be asked by the inquiry committee—why the UK government wasted close to £4 billion [$5.1 billion] on the infamous Innova lateral flow (rapid antigen) test—at a colossal cost to the UK taxpayer.

The further irony, according to The Telegraph, is that “the Covid-19 inquiry is demanding that the attendees test for the virus more than a year after the Government scrapped lateral flow tests.”