The Covid ‘charge sheet’ facing ex-health secretary Matt Hancock as he appears at Inquiry
Matt Hancock will today appear at the Covid inquiry to defend his record as health secretary during the pandemic.
The ex-minister’s evidence follows repeated criticism made against him by a number of other witnesses.
Ahead of his appearance,The Independent looks at the charge sheet facing the under-fire former health secretary, who now sits as an independent after losing the party whip for appearing on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity.
Hancock ‘the liar’
The most consistent criticism of Mr Hancock has been that he repeatedly lied or misled ministers and officials during the pandemic.
Ex-Boris Johnson aide Dominic Cummings used the inquiry to attack Mr Hancock as a “proven liar” and a “problem leaker”.
Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara also said Mr Hancock was “regularly” telling people things that they later discovered were not true and that No10 had a “lack of confidence” that what he said were happening “was actually happening”.
And the government’s chief scientific adviser during the pandemic Sir Patrick Vallance said Mr Hancock had a “habit” of saying things that were not true.
Hancock ‘the incompetent’
Britain’s most senior civil servant during the pandemic called for Mr Hancock to be sacked.
The inquiry has heard former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill urged then PM Mr Johnson to sack the health secretary, “to save lives and protect the NHS”.
Mr Hancock was also included in the UK government’s “weak team”, compiled by Simon Case, Lord Sedwill’s successor as cabinet secretary.
As well as considering Mr Hancock a liar, Mr Cummings told Mr Johnson during the pandemic to sack the health secretary.
In a message to the PM seen by the inquiry, he said: “I think leaving Hancock in post is a big mistake – he is a proven liar who nobody believes or shd [sic] believe on anything, and we face going into autumn crisis with the c*** in charge of the NHS.”
Hancock ‘wanted to play God’
Mr Hancock wanted to personally decide “who should live and who should die” if hospitals became overwhelmed at the height of the Covid pandemic.
The former boss of the NHS Simon Stevens said that luckily the “horrible dilemma” never occurred, but he had wanted to “discourage the idea” Mr Hancock could have made the decision.
Hancock’s ‘nuclear’ overconfidence… and a bizarre cricketing story
Ms MacNamara went on to slam Mr Hancock for displaying “nuclear levels” of overconfidence during the pandemic.
And she described how when she offered the health secretary help during the pandemic he offered an odd response.
Ms MacNamara told the inquiry: “He reassured me that he was ‘loving’ the responsibility.
“And to demonstrate this he took up a batsman’s stance outside the Cabinet Room and said: ‘They bowl them at me, I knock them away’.”
Hancock ‘knew lockdown tiers would not work’
The inquiry this week was read an extract from Mr Hancock’s written evidence, showing the then health secretary knew the government’s lockdown tiers would not work.
Recalling the policy, which shuttered pubs, restaurants and bars, Mr Hancock said: “I was in despair that we had announced a policy that we knew would not work.”
Hancock ‘the leaker’
Mr Cummings’s criticism of Mr Hancock did not stop at his lying and incompetence, the former top aide to Mr Johnson also described him as a “problem leaker”.
A spokesperson for the former health secretary said: “Mr Hancock has supported the inquiry throughout and will respond to all questions when he gives his evidence.”