UK Labour leader says coronavirus inquiry is inevitable

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said on Friday that an inquiry into Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government's handling of the coronavirus crisis was inevitable.

"I think an inquiry is inevitable," Starmer told Sky News. "There will be an inquiry in due course."

"At the moment, I think it is important that we focus on the job in hand," he said when asked why he was not calling for an immediate inquiry.

Asked about his assessment of the government's handling, he said: "Too slow, asleep at the wheel and they really need to up their game."

On Johnson, he said the prime minister was good at rhetoric but poor at governing.

"He’s not led us through this crisis in the right way," Starmer said. "He is good on the rhetoric but he is not good on governing."

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Kate Holton)