If in doubt, start an inquiry

Inquiries are all the rage in British health care. If something horrible happens, then the response of politicians is to start an inquiry. Action is being taken. But is the aim of these inquiries clear? Are they to find out what happened, allocate blame, provide an opportunity for reconciliation, make sure that nothing similar happens again, or all of these things? And are they worth the time and money?

Clare Dyer, our legal correspondent, reports on problems that are arising with the inquiry into bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and …