Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMatt Hancock today launched an extraordinary fightback against claims by Boris Johnson’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings that he had “lied his way through the pandemic” and “killed people”.In a highly anticipated hearing at the Covid inquiry, the former health secretary attacked Mr Cummings as a “malign actor” in No 10 who had fostered a “culture of fear” across government.He denied being a liar – a charge levelled at him at various stages of the inquiry – instead blaming the allegations on Mr Cummings creating a “toxic culture” in which ministers and officials sought to blame each other for mistakes.Mr Hancock said “many, many lives” would have been saved if the UK had gone into the first lockdown three weeks before Mr Johnson announced it – claiming he was shut down from giving media interviews during the peak of the pandemic.He admitted the so-called “protective ring” he said had been put around care homes early in the crisis was not an unbroken one – insisting that he understood the hurt many people felt on the issue.On a blockbuster day at the Covid-19 Inquiry:Hancock accused Cummings of creating a “culture of fear”, abusing staff and lying to the inquiryThe ex-health secretary said the nation should have gone into lockdown on 2 March 2020He kept concerns about Eat Out to Help Out out of the news because he believed in a “team effort”Hancock denied wanting to play God after accusations he wanted to “decide who lived and who died”He admitted he was not reading minutes of Sage meetings until FebruaryThe inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC grilled Mr Hancock on his claim that he first told the PM to call a national lockdown on 13 March, 2020.Mr Keith then showed the former health secretary his own book, Pandemic Diaries, and asked why he had not made a note of the intervention at the time.He asked: “Telling the prime minister of this country, for the first time, that he had to call an immediate lockdown, is surely worthy of some recollection, is it not?”Former health secretary Matt Hancock giving evidence to the inquiry Mr Hancock said since writing book, the information had “come to light” during his preparation for the inquiry. He referenced an email from himself to Mr Johnson in which he called for a “suppression strategy” to tackle the virus.But an unimpressed Mr Keith said: “The inquiry is well aware of that email… Do you use the word immediate or lockdown?” Mr Hancock then said he was unable to answer the question as he did not have the email in front of him.Rebuking Mr Hancock’s account in an attack on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Cummings said he was “outright lying” by claiming to have privately Mr Johnson to impose the measure and “talking rubbish” to the inquiry.But Mr Hancock went on to claim that “many, many lives” would have been saved if the nation should have gone into lockdown on 2 March 2020 – instead of three weeks later on 23 March 2020.He claimed that Downing Street officials stopped Mr Johnson from saying anything publicly about the virus during in February 2020, and also claimed he was not allowed to give interviews on the subject.The ex-health secretary was told on the evening of 27 February that based on figures at the time there was a “reasonable worst-case scenario of just over half a million people dying”.But at the time, the senior MP claimed, he was “still not being allowed to communicate” and was “not able to go on … certain radio shows including the Today programme”.Dominic Cummings accused Hancock of ‘outright lying’ Mr Hancock also told the inquiry that kept his concerns about then-chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme “out of the news” in the late summer of 2020 as he believed government is a “team effort”.The ex-secretary was grilled about a WhatsApp exchange from August 2020 with the Cabinet secretary Simon Case, in which he said the scheme was “causing problems in our intervention areas. I’ve kept it out of the news but it’s serious”.Asked why he protected any damaging information about the restaurant discount – aimed at getting people out and spending money again – Mr Hancock said: “I believe that government is a team effort. And so I didn’t want that to become a row in public.”The ex-secretary said was not told about Mr Sunak’s scheme until the day the scheme was announced, by which time it was a “done deal”.Mr Hancock also admitted the so-called “protective ring” he said had been put around care homes early in the crisis was not an unbroken one – as he insisted that he understood the hurt many people felt on the issue.Questioned about the phrase he used in May 2020, Mr Hancock said he had been “trying to simply summarise that we had taken action” – before agreeing with the inquiry counsel that the processes put in place “did not form an unbroken circle”.The inquiry also heard that Mr Hancock’s then-media adviser had warned him there might be a problem with the accuracy of the minister having told Mr Johnson that care homes had been “locked down” before the rest of the country.A WhatsApp message from the adviser on May 13 said: “Matt, we might have some issues with you telling the PM we ‘locked down’ care homes before the rest of the country.” But Mr Hancock told the inquiry: “It depends on how you define locked down.”Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme under the spotlight again Mr Hancock launched into a wider attack on Mr Cummings, blaming the former Johnson adviser for the dysfunction that plagued the government throughout the pandemic.He said that the removal of Sajid Javid as chancellor in February 2020, orchestrated by Mr Cummings, fostered a “culture of fear” which hamstrung the government.“It inculcated a culture of fear. Whereas what we needed was a culture where everybody was brought to the table and given their heads to do their level best in a once in a generation crisis,” he told the inquiry.Mr Hancock went on to claim Mr Cummings “did not regard ministers as a valuable contribution to decision-making” and circumvented emergency Cobra meetings to discuss the pandemic. nstead, he held his own meetings where he even claimed “decisions don’t need to go to the prime minister”, Mr Hancock said. “Now that is inappropriate in a democracy, and I saw it simply as essentially a power grab.”He also described Mr Cummings as a “malign influence” in government who had “abused” his staff and made work during the pandemic “unpleasant”.“It was unpleasant for a whole load of my staff as well, who were subject to this sort of abuse from the chief adviser [Mr Cummings,” Mr Hancock said. “It went wider than I thought at the time,” he added.And Mr Hancock denied a suggestion by the former NHS boss Simon Stevens that he wanted to decide who would live or die if the health service became overwhelmed.The former health secretary said that after a tabletop exercise to plan for the pandemic the NHS asked “how to prioritise when there is insufficient capacity”.Mr Hancock said: “I concluded that it should be for clinicians, not for ministers to make a decision on this basis… the minutes are really clear on that.”And he admitted that he did not read minutes of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) until February. Mr Keith asked whether anyone knew that the health seceretary was not reading the minutes, to which Mr Hancock replied: “I don’t know.” Mr Cummings mocked Mr Hancock for the admission, saying it “explains a lot”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe former chancellor and Labour Party veteran Alistair Darling has died from cancer at the age of 70, a spokesperson for his family has announced.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer led tributes to a giant of British politics who presided over the rescue of the UK’s banking sector during the global financial crisis of 2008.Sir Keir mourned the “immeasurable loss” of the Labour grandee, who also successfully spearheaded the 2014 campaign for the unionist side which saw Scotland remain part of the UK.Former Labour PM Gordon Brown said his colleague would be remembered as “a statesman of unimpeachable integrity”, and that he relied on the “wisdom and calmness” of his old ally.Sir Tony Blair said Mr Darling was an “outstanding” politician who had been the “safest of safe hands” in his government – adding that he would “remember him with huge affection”.Rishi Sunak paid tribute to “a dedicated public servant who served this country through challenging times”. “The role he played during the 2014 independence referendum was vital in keeping our union together,” he saidA statement issued on behalf of the family on Thursday afternoon said that “the much-loved husband of Margaret and beloved father of Calum and Anna, died after a short spell in Western General Hospital under the wonderful care of the cancer team”.Sir Keir said he was “deeply saddened” by his death. The Labour leader said Mr Darling would be remembered as “the chancellor whose calm expertise and honesty helped to guide Britain through the tumult of the global financial crisis”.Alastair Darling ‘guided’ Britain through financial crisis, said Keir Starmer Sir Keir said he was “incredibly fortunate” to have benefited from the veteran’s counsel over the years. “He was always at hand to provide advice built on his decades of experience – always with his trademark wry, good humour.”He added: “Alistair will be missed by all those whose lives he touched. His loss to the Labour Party, his friends and his family is immeasurable.”Mr Darling served as the chancellor from 2007 to 2010 during the final years of the last Labour government when Mr Brown was prime minister.He was in charge at the Treasury during the crucial period of the global banking crisis, pushing through a huge rescue package for the banks in 2008 which helped stabilise Britain’s economy.Mr Darling facilitated the bailout of the UK banking system following the sub-prime mortgage crash to the tune of £137bn – negotiated in a late-night meeting with bank bosses. He had taken a call from the head of the RBS saying the bank would run out of money within hours.Alastair Darling with close ally Gordon Brown at a Better Together campaign rally in 2014The Labour grandee also ran the successful 2014 Better Together campaign, which saw voters in Scotland reject Scottish independence and opt to stay in the UK by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.Mr Darling was pitted against the might of Alex Salmond’s SNP and the wider “Yes” movement which gained huge momentum in the campaign. But the Labour veteran was seen to get the better of Mr Salmond during a vital pre-poll TV debate – challenging the nationalist leader to explain which currency an independent Scotland would use.Mr Brown said he was “deeply saddened” by the news of Mr Darling’s death. The former PM said his ally was “defined by a strong sense of social justice and who gained a global reputation for the assured competence”.The former Labour leader said Mr Darling was a “popular and effective minister” who was held in the “highest esteem by me and all who worked with him” during the banking bailouts and international economic agreements of 2008 and 2009.Tony Blair gave Mr Darling several top jobs in cabinet before his role as chancellor Mr Brown said Mr Darling was also “resolute and courageous in making the case for Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom” as chair of the Better Together campaign.“I, like many, relied on his wisdom, calmness in a crisis and his humour. He will be missed by all who knew and respected him and benefited from the great work he did,” he said.Sir Tony said he “never met anyone who didn’t like” Mr Darling. “He was highly capable … always kind and dignified even under the intense pressure politics can generate. I liked him and respected him immensely as a colleague and as a friend.”The former Labour PM added: “In all the jobs he did for me in government … he was outstanding. I remember him with huge affection. He has been taken from us far too soon.”New Labour grandee David Blunkett told The Independent that his former cabinet colleague was “one of the most thoughtful and personable politicians I have met”.The ex-home secretary added: “You could disagree with him, and he would immediately put that to one side, enquire how you were and be incredibly supportive if things weren’t going to plan. His early death is both a tragedy for his family, and a great loss to the politics of our country.” Mr Salmond said Mr Darling’s death was “very sad” having happened at a “relatively young age”, and went on to praise his tenure as chancellor during the financial crash. “When the moment of test came, Alistair passed with flying colours.”The former SNP leader also said he never had a “cross word” with Mr Darling outside the “intense” TV debates in the lead-up to the 2014 independence referendum.Mr Darling with the then shadow chancellor George Osborne prior to the 2010 general election The ex-chancellor had been a senior figure in Mr Blair’s government since the 1997 election landslide – starting as chief Treasury secretary, before going to cabinet positions in charge of work and pensions, trade and transport.He first entered parliament in 1987 after winning his Edinburgh South seat from the Conservatives and represented the Scottish capital until he stepped down in 2015.Foreign secretary David Cameron paid tribute to a “thoroughly kind and decent man”. The former PM added: “We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for chairing the Better Together campaign. He has left us far too early.”Former Tory PM Sir John Major said Mr Darling’s death would be felt across the political spectrum – calling him “a decent man who brought civility, reason and intelligence to politics”.Ex-chancellor George Osborne said Mr Darling will be remembered as someone who “brought out the best of politics – softly spoken, intelligent, always trying to do the right thing”.His former Labour colleague Ed Balls said he was “funny” and “passionate”, adding: “Underneath that calmness, he was a radical – he thought that he could change things for the better.”Former PM Theresa May said Mr Darling was a “committed public servant, a proud unionist and a calm, kind and decent man”. Boris Johnson paid tribute to “a towering figure” who “always brought wit, wisdom and intellect to his work”.SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf also paid tribute. “He dedicated his life to public service and was a giant of Scottish politics,” he tweeted. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightStanley Johnson has urged Rishi Sunak to let Nigel Farage join the Conservative “troops” to transform the party’s general election chances.Boris Johnson’s father claimed the Tories should “open their arms” to the former Brexit party leader in a desperate bid to transform dire polling fortunes.The Tory environmentalist said Mr Farage – currently causing rows on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! – could save the party in so-called red wall seats in the north of England.“The Conservatives have to open their arms to Nigel. I think we cannot afford to have a man of that talent, not in our camp at the next election,” Mr Johnson Snr. told GB News.He added: “I think we definitely need him as part of the troops. I think that he is going to help us save quite a lot of what we might call the red wall.”Former chancellor George Osborne has said it is “not inconceivable” that the former Ukip boss could be a future Tory leader because of the party’s shift to the right and overtures from the party’s grassroots.Mr Farage was feted by Tory members and seen dancing with former home secretary Priti Patel at the recent party conference. Mr Sunak even left the door open to his membership.The hard-right politician has also flirted with the idea of joining the Tories in recent weeks as he seeks to raise his profile again – saying “never say never”, and telling his fellow I’m a Celeb contestants that it “depends how much mess the country gets in”.Nigel Farage has repeatedly clashed with fellow I’m a Celeb contestants on politicsBut it is assumed any move into the Tory fold would happen after a likely Labour victory at the general election due in 2024.Asked if he felt Mr Farage might join the party before the election, Mr Johnson Snr. said: “I would hope so.”It comes as Mr Farage continues to clash with fellow ITV reality show contestants about politics in the Australian jungle – most notably with First Dates host Fred Sirieix on Brexit.The controversial figure has argued that leaving the EU gives Britain the freedom to “make a mess of it ourselves”, and denied the claimed he helped ruin the economy as “absolute b******s”.Another divisive topic came up on Tuesday, when discussion turned to the way that many members of the camp said the word “water” in a Patois accent.Mr Farage complained that if a white person was to say the word in that accent, they’d be accused of “cultural appropriation”.“They criticise when suits,” he said, with Nella Rose replying: “What do you mean, Nigel?” He responded: “If a white person does a Black accent, that’s considered to be a crime, that they should be cancelled for it.”“It depends in what context,” she explained. “If you’re taking the p***, then you’re taking the p***. If you’re not, then you’re not.”“Sort of ‘can’t win’ territory,” Mr Farage replied. “Nah, it just depends on the context,” she said. More

Covid inquiry: Matt Hancock denies that he lied about having a planSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDominic Cummings has claimed Matt Hancock is “flat out lying” to the Covid inquiry by claiming he pressed Boris Johnson for a lockdown on 13 March 2020.Despite the supposed interaction not appearing in his Pandemic Diaries book, Mr Hancock insisted “further evidence had come to light” in an email he sent to Mr Johnson – but could not tell the inquiry whether it contained the words “immediate” or “lockdown” because he did not have it in front of him.Mr Johnson’s former chief political aide wrote on Twitter/X that Mr Hancock was “flat out lying”, and claimed to have “physically stopped” the then-health secretary coming to a meeting the following day because he “was bull****ting everybody about herd immunity”.In an escalating war of words, Mr Hancock claimed to the inqury that Mr Cummings was a “malign influence” who created a toxic “culture of fear” and abused the ex-health secretary’s staff. He described vicious messages about his competence as part of this “unhealthy toxic culture”.Show latest update
1701355990Matt Hancock mocked over ‘little notebook’Matt Hancock has been mocked by Covid inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC for having a “little notebook” to refer to.The former health secretary used one of the breaks to uncover new evidence of a phone call between himself and the prime minister.“You know perfectly well that we have scoured every possible source for documents and materials relevant to issues in this inquiry,” Mr Keith said. “Are you saying that you have a record of a phone call which you have not disclosed at this inquiry?”Mr Hancock said no, but that he had a record of the phone call taking place.Minutes later, as he discussed another phone call, Mr Keith joked that Mr Hancock may be able to find the details “in that little notebook you’ve just produced”.A snappy Mr Hancock replied: “It’s not a notebook. It was a phone record.”Archie Mitchell30 November 2023 14:531701355947Hancock claims government would have saved ‘many, many lives’ by following his ‘doctrine’Matt Hancock has claimed that, had government listened to him, it would have first locked down three weeks earlier and more than 90 per cent of those who died in the first Covid wave would have survived.“If we had the doctrine that I proposed, which is ‘as soon as you know you’ve got to lock down you lock down as soon as possible’, then we would have got the lockdown done over that weekend, in on the 2nd of March, three weeks earlier than before,” the ex-health secretary told the inquiry.“There’s a doubling rate at this point estimated every three to four days. We would have been six doublings ahead of where we were, which means that fewer than a tenth of the number of people would have died in the first wave.“At the time there was still enormous uncertainty. The number of cases were still very low. In fact there were only 12 cases reported on the 1st of March. So you can understand why – and the costs of what I’m just proposing were known and huge. So I defend the actions that were taken by the government at the time, knowing what we did. “But in hindsight that’s the moment we should have done it. Three weeks earlier. And it would have saved many, many lives.”Andy Gregory30 November 2023 14:521701355600Hancock claims he kickstarted ‘action’ on first lockdown – which could have been three weeks soonerMatt Hancock has claimed that his phone call with Boris Johnson after finding out that Covid’s fatality rate was 1 per cent – and therefore in a reasonable worst case scenario could kill 500,000 people in the UK – was the moment government “really started to come into action”.And the ex-health secretary went so far as to claim that, had government followed his own wishes, the first national lockdown might have happened three weeks earlier.“I found that out on the evening of the 27th [of February 2020] if I recall that correctly. On the 28th, I was still not being allowed to communicate in the way I’d want on this – not able to go on certain radio shows including the Today programme, which is a very important part of the national debate.“And I phone up the prime minister and I remember it very well. Because he didn’t take the call and then he called me back and I was in a classroom in a primary school in Suffolk … and I had to say to the kids ‘I’m sorry the prime minister’s calling me, I’ve got to go’. It was quite a moment.Mr Hancock claims he told the PM he needed to chair a Cobra meeting and said “we need to be able to communicate properly, including on all of the programmes, instead of having this political boycott”.In the following days, Mr Hancock said he made public comments that schools and whole cities may have to be shut down, adding: “That all flowed from this phone call on the morning of the 28th February.“I regard that as the moment that the centre of government, led by the prime minister, really started to come into action. “And if I may say so with hindsight Italy having locked down initially locally in Lombardy on the 21st of January and then nationally locked down on the 28th of February … at that moment we realised it was definitely coming and the reasonable worst case scenario was as awful as it was. “That is the moment that we should, with hindsight, have acted and if we had the doctrine that I proposed, which is ‘as soon as you know you’ve got to lock down you lock down as soon as possible’, then we would have got the lockdown done over that weekend, in on the 2nd of March, three weeks earlier than before.”Andy Gregory30 November 2023 14:461701354764‘Absolutely not’ being enough done on infection control in mid-February, says HancockMatt Hancock said there was “absolutely not” enough being done on infection control by mid-February 2020.Inquiry lawyer Hugo Keith KC questioned him on plans for non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) at the time, saying: “As the secretary of state for health, you have to acknowledge, Mr Hancock, that by the 14th of February, there were still no plans for infection control in existence.“There was a 2011 strategy report. You had, to be fair to you, commissioned a battle plan. But nothing had been committed to paper, had it?”Mr Hancock responded: “If your point is ‘was enough going on?’, absolutely not. To the degree that there was something going on, there was clearly not enough.”Andy Gregory30 November 2023 14:321701354704Hancock accuses inquiry lead of ‘making same mistake twice’Matt Hancock has accused the inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC of making “the same mistake twice” in saying that communications are not a non-pharmaceutical health measure.The ex-health secretary argued that in fact communications and legislation are both health interventions, adding: “I am emphatic on that point, because you’ve made that mistake twice.”The inquiry’s chair Baroness Heather Hallett interjected to say: “I think we’re going round in circles – I think we were here this morning”, before appearing to hide a smile. Andy Gregory30 November 2023 14:311701354173I was not reading Sage minutes until FebruaryMatt Hancock said he was not reading minutes of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) until February.The former health secretary said with hindsight he should have “gone directly to listen” to Sage. He said he did not read the minutes of Sage meetings unless they were presented to him, which did not happen until “some point in February”.Dominic Cummings, former chief adviser to Boris Johnson mocked Mr Hancock for the admission, saying it “explains a lot”.Archie Mitchell30 November 2023 14:221701353542ICYMI: Cummings acted as prime minister ‘in all but name’, Sajid Javid tells Covid inquiryIn evidence echoed today by Matt Hancock, his successor as health secretary Sajid Javid told the inquiry yesterday that Dominic Cummings acted as prime minister in all but name and was the driving force behind key decisions during the pandemic.Mr Javid said cabinet ministers were often excluded from decision-making and it was Mr Cummings calling the shots.Recalling his decision to resign as chancellor in February 2020, he said he agreed with claims made by others that there was a “toxic” and “feral” culture within No 10 and said he had “not experienced that extent of dysfunction in any government before”.He blamed the dominance of Mr Cummings, who was Mr Johnson’s top adviser, revealing: “I felt that the elected prime minister was not in charge of what was happening in his name and was largely content with Mr Cummings running the government.”Andy Gregory30 November 2023 14:121701352402Boris Johnson to be grilled at Covid inquiry next weekBoris Johnson will appear before the Covid 19 inquiry next Wednesday and Thursday, it has been confirmed.The former prime minister will answer questions about the government’s decision-making during the pandemic.Mr Johnson will be the only figure at the inquiry next week, and is scheduled to sit from 10.00am to 4.30pm on both days in a marathon evidence session.It will offer the ex-PM a chance to answer criticism of his handling of the pandemic, including the incendiary claim that he was “obsessed with older people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going”.Andy Gregory30 November 2023 13:531701351262Watch: Matt Hancock claims government’s pandemic preparedness was inadequateCovid inquiry: Matt Hancock claims government’s pandemic preparedness was inadequateAndy Gregory30 November 2023 13:341701350208Covid restrictions were not raised in February 2020 exercise to plan for pandemic, says HancockMatt Hancock has conceded that the question of what health measures could be needed to counter a coronavirus pandemic if it hit the UK “was not asked” during a ministerial planning exercise in mid-February 2020.Mr Hancock was asked why – despite it being evidently understood in a February planning session called Exercise Nimbus that many people would die – there was not more generally any debate about infection control measures such as home isolation and shutting schools.The health secretary said the exercise was based on the 2011 pandemic flu strategy “which was based on the wrong doctrine that the government’s job in a pandemic is to manage the consequences of a pandemic, not to stop it happening”.He added: “This central question of ‘when do you lock down? what are the triggers?’ … should have been at the centre of Nimbus … at this point it was still 50/50 whether [the virus] would escape China.”Hugo Keith replied: “It was a ministerial and advisory tabletop exercise designed to try and address the very problem faced by the United Kingdom. And fundamentally there was a complete absence of any attempt to identify what sort of measures might be required.”Mr Hancock agreed, saying: “The question simply wasn’t asked.”Andy Gregory30 November 2023 13:16 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Home secretary James Cleverly can “alleviate” any fears Rwanda has about the turmoil which has rocked Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to the country, a cabinet minister has insisted. It comes as […] More