Hancock says government was more concerned with counting bodybags than stopping Covid spread
Adam Forrest
Tue, 27 June 2023
Matt Hancock has admitted that the UK was not properly prepared for the Covid pandemic – claiming officials were more concerned with counting bodybags than preventing the spread of the virus.
Speaking at the Covid inquiry on Tuesday, the former health secretary described the failure to plan as an “absolute tragedy” and repeatedly insisted that the government’s approach had been “completely wrong”.
He conceded that pre-pandemic plans to protect care homes had been “terrible”, saying the care sector was in “nowhere near good enough shape” when Covid struck.
Mr Hancock also revealed that the UK came “within hours” of running out of vital medicines for intensive care units at the height of the pandemic – but said that the planning that had been undertaken in preparation for a no-deal Brexit meant hospitals were able to cope.
It came as Mr Hancock:
Attacked planning that revolved around finding “enough bodybags” and “burying the dead”
Admitted he had not attended any National Security Committee meetings on emergency planning
Said he “wasn’t enthusiastic” about no-deal Brexit robbing resources from health planning
Turned to victims’ families in the gallery to tell them he was “profoundly sorry”
Was heckled as he left the inquiry, with the bereaved shouting “Killer” and “How many have died?”
Mr Hancock apologised directly to the families of Covid victims, dramatically turning to address the bereaved in the public seating area. “I’m profoundly sorry for each death,” he told them. “I understand why, for some, it will be hard to take that apology from me – I understand that. I get it. But it is honest and heartfelt.”
Lorelei King, 69, showed Mr Hancock a poster featuring a picture of her husband, Vincent Marzello, who died in a care home in March 2020 at the age of 72, alongside the former health secretary. “You shook my husband’s hand for your photo op,” the poster was captioned.
At the end of the hearing, Mr Hancock approached the public gallery to attempt to apologise in person – but one woman later said she had turned her back on him. Amanda Herring Murrell, who lose her brother Mark to Covid in March 2020, told Sky News: “I wasn’t having any of it.”
The senior Tory began the hearing by strongly condemning the underlying “doctrine” of the government, which he said was that it “would not be possible to stop a pandemic”, as he revealed that planning had revolved around finding “enough bodybags” and “burying the dead”.
Lorelei King, whose husband died from Covid, protests as Matt Hancock arrives (PA)
Mr Hancock said a “huge error in the doctrine” in place before Covid arrived in early 2020 meant that not enough resources were available for testing and contact-tracing to prevent the spread of a virus.
“The attitude, the doctrine, of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster – can we buy enough bodybags, where are we going to bury the dead. And that was completely wrong,” he said.
“Large-scale testing did not exist, and large-scale contact-tracing did not exist, because it was assumed that as soon as there was community transmission it wouldn’t be possible to stop the spread, and therefore what’s the point in contact-tracing. That was completely wrong,” he told the inquiry.
In written evidence, Mr Hancock told the inquiry that he was advised when he came into the role of health secretary in July 2018 that the UK was “a world leader” in pandemic preparedness.
Hancock was confronted by families as he arrived at the session of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (PA)
He told the inquiry on Tuesday that the advice was based on a very positive assessment of the UK’s readiness by the World Health Organisation. “When you’re assured by the leading global authority that the UK is the best prepared in the world, that is quite a significant reassurance”, said Mr Hancock. “That turned out to be wrong.”
Challenged on why he did not enforce changes at the Department of Health and Social Care, Mr Hancock pointed the finger at civil servants, telling the inquiry’s lawyer: “There was no recommendation to resolve those problems.”
Mr Hancock admitted that he had not attended any meetings of a subcommittee of the National Security Council that was responsible for pandemic planning. Mr Hancock also revealed that the government’s influenza pandemic strategy was not updated after 2011.
On the period between his arrival in July 2018 and the onset of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, he added: “In hindsight wish I’d spent that short period of time ... changing that entire attitude about how we respond to a pandemic.”
Former health secretary Hancock is grilled by the inquiry lawyer (Covid-19 Inquiry/YouTube)
The former health secretary said he was told by officials that the UK had significant plans in place for the supply of personal protective equipment. “The problem was, it was extremely hard to get it out fast enough when the crisis hit,” he said.
On testing, he said: “We developed a test in the first few days after the genetic code of Covid-19 was published. The problem was, there was no plan in place to scale testing that ... we could execute.”
Mr Hancock also said he had “pushed hard” on the lack of UK vaccine manufacturing before Covid hit. “I thought in a pandemic scenario ... it would be hard to get hold of vaccine doses if they were physically manufactured overseas, no matter what our contracts said,” he told the inquiry.
Mr Hancock won’t be grilled on his handling of the Covid crisis, or his claims to have thrown a “protective ring” around care homes, until the autumn. But he did face questions on the care sector on Tuesday. Asked if planning for care homes was well prepared, Mr Hancock said: “No, it was terrible,” adding that the sector was in “nowhere near good enough shape”.
Pointing the finger at local authorities, Mr Hancock said only two councils had their own plans to deal with the impact of a pandemic. He said that ahead of the pandemic, even basic data was lacking – “for instance, how many care homes are operating right now in the UK – that was a fact that we did not know at that time, and I’m glad to say now there’s far better data”.
The former health secretary also admitted he had signed off on resources being reallocated away from his department to support emergency planning for Boris Johnson’s threatened “hard” exit from the EU in 2019.
Boris Johnson had told the government to prepare for a no-deal Brexit (AP)
Mr Hancock said: “I wasn’t enthusiastic about it, but I signed it off, and the reason that I signed off the overall reshaping of the department is because we [had] a very real and material threat, should a disorganised Brexit happen, that we needed to be prepared for.”
But Mr Hancock said Britain had come “within hours” of running out of medicines required by intensive care units during the pandemic – and added that planning for a no-deal Brexit had helped to prevent the worst-case scenario. He said it “became extremely useful in saving lives during the pandemic”.
Mr Hancock said the whole world had failed to see that lockdowns would be necessary. “It is the single most important thing we can learn [from] as a country,” he added.
Asked if he agreed that planning for the pandemic was “lions led by structural donkeys”, the ex-minister said: “That’s absolutely right, and that was a problem across the Western world.”
When the inquiry’s lawyer put it to Mr Hancock that there had been a “complete systemic failure” in the UK, he replied: “I couldn’t agree more, and it’s an absolute tragedy.”
Mr Hancock was heckled as he left the inquiry, with people shouting “Killer” and “How many have died?”
Members of the campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice told the BBC that they found it ironic that police officers were on hand to protect Mr Hancock “when he didn’t protect our loved ones”.
Tue, 27 June 2023
Matt Hancock has admitted that the UK was not properly prepared for the Covid pandemic – claiming officials were more concerned with counting bodybags than preventing the spread of the virus.
Speaking at the Covid inquiry on Tuesday, the former health secretary described the failure to plan as an “absolute tragedy” and repeatedly insisted that the government’s approach had been “completely wrong”.
He conceded that pre-pandemic plans to protect care homes had been “terrible”, saying the care sector was in “nowhere near good enough shape” when Covid struck.
Mr Hancock also revealed that the UK came “within hours” of running out of vital medicines for intensive care units at the height of the pandemic – but said that the planning that had been undertaken in preparation for a no-deal Brexit meant hospitals were able to cope.
It came as Mr Hancock:
Attacked planning that revolved around finding “enough bodybags” and “burying the dead”
Admitted he had not attended any National Security Committee meetings on emergency planning
Said he “wasn’t enthusiastic” about no-deal Brexit robbing resources from health planning
Turned to victims’ families in the gallery to tell them he was “profoundly sorry”
Was heckled as he left the inquiry, with the bereaved shouting “Killer” and “How many have died?”
Mr Hancock apologised directly to the families of Covid victims, dramatically turning to address the bereaved in the public seating area. “I’m profoundly sorry for each death,” he told them. “I understand why, for some, it will be hard to take that apology from me – I understand that. I get it. But it is honest and heartfelt.”
Lorelei King, 69, showed Mr Hancock a poster featuring a picture of her husband, Vincent Marzello, who died in a care home in March 2020 at the age of 72, alongside the former health secretary. “You shook my husband’s hand for your photo op,” the poster was captioned.
At the end of the hearing, Mr Hancock approached the public gallery to attempt to apologise in person – but one woman later said she had turned her back on him. Amanda Herring Murrell, who lose her brother Mark to Covid in March 2020, told Sky News: “I wasn’t having any of it.”
The senior Tory began the hearing by strongly condemning the underlying “doctrine” of the government, which he said was that it “would not be possible to stop a pandemic”, as he revealed that planning had revolved around finding “enough bodybags” and “burying the dead”.
Lorelei King, whose husband died from Covid, protests as Matt Hancock arrives (PA)
Mr Hancock said a “huge error in the doctrine” in place before Covid arrived in early 2020 meant that not enough resources were available for testing and contact-tracing to prevent the spread of a virus.
“The attitude, the doctrine, of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster – can we buy enough bodybags, where are we going to bury the dead. And that was completely wrong,” he said.
“Large-scale testing did not exist, and large-scale contact-tracing did not exist, because it was assumed that as soon as there was community transmission it wouldn’t be possible to stop the spread, and therefore what’s the point in contact-tracing. That was completely wrong,” he told the inquiry.
In written evidence, Mr Hancock told the inquiry that he was advised when he came into the role of health secretary in July 2018 that the UK was “a world leader” in pandemic preparedness.
Hancock was confronted by families as he arrived at the session of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (PA)
He told the inquiry on Tuesday that the advice was based on a very positive assessment of the UK’s readiness by the World Health Organisation. “When you’re assured by the leading global authority that the UK is the best prepared in the world, that is quite a significant reassurance”, said Mr Hancock. “That turned out to be wrong.”
Challenged on why he did not enforce changes at the Department of Health and Social Care, Mr Hancock pointed the finger at civil servants, telling the inquiry’s lawyer: “There was no recommendation to resolve those problems.”
Mr Hancock admitted that he had not attended any meetings of a subcommittee of the National Security Council that was responsible for pandemic planning. Mr Hancock also revealed that the government’s influenza pandemic strategy was not updated after 2011.
On the period between his arrival in July 2018 and the onset of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, he added: “In hindsight wish I’d spent that short period of time ... changing that entire attitude about how we respond to a pandemic.”
Former health secretary Hancock is grilled by the inquiry lawyer (Covid-19 Inquiry/YouTube)
The former health secretary said he was told by officials that the UK had significant plans in place for the supply of personal protective equipment. “The problem was, it was extremely hard to get it out fast enough when the crisis hit,” he said.
On testing, he said: “We developed a test in the first few days after the genetic code of Covid-19 was published. The problem was, there was no plan in place to scale testing that ... we could execute.”
Mr Hancock also said he had “pushed hard” on the lack of UK vaccine manufacturing before Covid hit. “I thought in a pandemic scenario ... it would be hard to get hold of vaccine doses if they were physically manufactured overseas, no matter what our contracts said,” he told the inquiry.
Mr Hancock won’t be grilled on his handling of the Covid crisis, or his claims to have thrown a “protective ring” around care homes, until the autumn. But he did face questions on the care sector on Tuesday. Asked if planning for care homes was well prepared, Mr Hancock said: “No, it was terrible,” adding that the sector was in “nowhere near good enough shape”.
Pointing the finger at local authorities, Mr Hancock said only two councils had their own plans to deal with the impact of a pandemic. He said that ahead of the pandemic, even basic data was lacking – “for instance, how many care homes are operating right now in the UK – that was a fact that we did not know at that time, and I’m glad to say now there’s far better data”.
The former health secretary also admitted he had signed off on resources being reallocated away from his department to support emergency planning for Boris Johnson’s threatened “hard” exit from the EU in 2019.
Boris Johnson had told the government to prepare for a no-deal Brexit (AP)
Mr Hancock said: “I wasn’t enthusiastic about it, but I signed it off, and the reason that I signed off the overall reshaping of the department is because we [had] a very real and material threat, should a disorganised Brexit happen, that we needed to be prepared for.”
But Mr Hancock said Britain had come “within hours” of running out of medicines required by intensive care units during the pandemic – and added that planning for a no-deal Brexit had helped to prevent the worst-case scenario. He said it “became extremely useful in saving lives during the pandemic”.
Mr Hancock said the whole world had failed to see that lockdowns would be necessary. “It is the single most important thing we can learn [from] as a country,” he added.
Asked if he agreed that planning for the pandemic was “lions led by structural donkeys”, the ex-minister said: “That’s absolutely right, and that was a problem across the Western world.”
When the inquiry’s lawyer put it to Mr Hancock that there had been a “complete systemic failure” in the UK, he replied: “I couldn’t agree more, and it’s an absolute tragedy.”
Mr Hancock was heckled as he left the inquiry, with people shouting “Killer” and “How many have died?”
Members of the campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice told the BBC that they found it ironic that police officers were on hand to protect Mr Hancock “when he didn’t protect our loved ones”.
What is the UK Covid inquiry, and how long will the hearings last?
Charlie Duffield,Beril Naz Hassan and Rachael Davies
Tue, 27 June 2023
Former health secretary Matt Hancock giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
Charlie Duffield,Beril Naz Hassan and Rachael Davies
Tue, 27 June 2023
Former health secretary Matt Hancock giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
(UK Covid-19 Inquiry/PA) (PA Media)
Former health secretary Matt Hancock is appearing before the Covid inquiry today (June 27), answering questions about his and the government’s response to the pandemic.
The public hearings of the UK Covid inquiry began on June 13. The independent public inquiry is examining the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the intention of improving preparedness for any future pandemic. It is chaired by Heather Hallett, a member of the House of Lords and a former Court of Appeal judge.
Earlier this month, former prime minister David Cameron was sworn in to become the first politician to appear.
The British Medical Association said Mr Cameron and former chancellor George Osborne — who appeared before the inquiry on Tuesday — should be “taken to task” at the Covid Inquiry over austerity-era decisions that “left us so unprepared” for the pandemic.
Fresh evidence of Tory events that broke Covid lockdown rules has also emerged in the form of a video that shows Conservative staff at a Christmas party in 2020.
Government decisions, as well as political reputations and the use of public funds, will all be examined via hundreds of thousands of documents to establish a truthful account of what happened during what was one of the biggest crises the UK has ever faced.
What is the Covid inquiry?
According to its official website, the Covid inquiry “has been set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid pandemic, and learn lessons for the future”.
The inquiry is split into modules, which explore how prepared the UK was for the pandemic, how decisions were made during the pandemic and the impact that it had on the healthcare system and the people that work in it and use it.
When did the Covid inquiry begin?
The first module of the Covid Inquiry, which examines the UK’s preparedness for the pandemic, opened on July 21 last year.
The full hearings for the first stage of the investigation, however, began in London on June 13. For the next six weeks, witnesses will provide evidence.
You can watch the inquiry and hearings via a YouTube channel where they will be live streamed.
How are Boris Johnson’s texts involved?
Mr Johnson handed over his unredacted WhatsApp messages to the inquiry earlier this month. The former PM also called on the Cabinet Office to “urgently disclose” his notebooks to the inquiry.
The Cabinet Office had claimed it did not have access to Mr Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and private notebooks, which were demanded by Lady Hallett.
Ministers have so far objected to the release of “unambiguously irrelevant” material.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said all the material requested by the Covid inquiry had been handed to the Cabinet Office and should be disclosed to Lady Hallett.
The Cabinet Office has now confirmed it has received the information and officials are looking at it.
How long will the inquiry last?
The inquiry has announced it aims to complete the public hearings by the summer of 2026 – although legal experts say it will probably last until 2027. It is expected to cost tens of millions of pounds.
You can find out more about the inquiry here.
Who is speaking at the inquiry?
Several key figures both inside and outside of Westminster are scheduled to speak at the Covid inquiry.
Former PM David Cameron gave evidence to the inquiry on Monday, where he fought accusations that austerity measures negatively affected the UK’s Covid preparedness.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of Oliver Letwin, the former Minister for Government Policy, and former chancellor George Osborne, who served in Cameron’s government from 2010 to 2016.
On Thursday (June 22), the inquiry heard from Sir Chris Whitty, the government’s current Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the former Chief Scientific Adviser. The two were seen regularly on television screens across the country during the pandemic, addressing questions from journalists and the public.
What has the government said?
Housing Secretary Michael Gove apologised after the video surfaced of Conservative HQ staff having a Christmas party during lockdown in 2020.
He said: “The people who were there I’m sure feel contrite, I certainly hope they do.”
He added: “As I say there was a previous investigation into this and we now know more about it, but I can only say I’m very, very sorry that there were people who were working in Government very hard on [the public’s] behalf, not all of whom on every occasion will have made the right decision in policy terms, but all of the time we were thinking about how we could help [the public] and others.
“There’s a Covid Inquiry ongoing at the moment which will look at the decisions that Government made.”
Former health secretary Matt Hancock is appearing before the Covid inquiry today (June 27), answering questions about his and the government’s response to the pandemic.
The public hearings of the UK Covid inquiry began on June 13. The independent public inquiry is examining the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the intention of improving preparedness for any future pandemic. It is chaired by Heather Hallett, a member of the House of Lords and a former Court of Appeal judge.
Earlier this month, former prime minister David Cameron was sworn in to become the first politician to appear.
The British Medical Association said Mr Cameron and former chancellor George Osborne — who appeared before the inquiry on Tuesday — should be “taken to task” at the Covid Inquiry over austerity-era decisions that “left us so unprepared” for the pandemic.
Fresh evidence of Tory events that broke Covid lockdown rules has also emerged in the form of a video that shows Conservative staff at a Christmas party in 2020.
Government decisions, as well as political reputations and the use of public funds, will all be examined via hundreds of thousands of documents to establish a truthful account of what happened during what was one of the biggest crises the UK has ever faced.
What is the Covid inquiry?
According to its official website, the Covid inquiry “has been set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid pandemic, and learn lessons for the future”.
The inquiry is split into modules, which explore how prepared the UK was for the pandemic, how decisions were made during the pandemic and the impact that it had on the healthcare system and the people that work in it and use it.
When did the Covid inquiry begin?
The first module of the Covid Inquiry, which examines the UK’s preparedness for the pandemic, opened on July 21 last year.
The full hearings for the first stage of the investigation, however, began in London on June 13. For the next six weeks, witnesses will provide evidence.
You can watch the inquiry and hearings via a YouTube channel where they will be live streamed.
How are Boris Johnson’s texts involved?
Mr Johnson handed over his unredacted WhatsApp messages to the inquiry earlier this month. The former PM also called on the Cabinet Office to “urgently disclose” his notebooks to the inquiry.
The Cabinet Office had claimed it did not have access to Mr Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and private notebooks, which were demanded by Lady Hallett.
Ministers have so far objected to the release of “unambiguously irrelevant” material.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said all the material requested by the Covid inquiry had been handed to the Cabinet Office and should be disclosed to Lady Hallett.
The Cabinet Office has now confirmed it has received the information and officials are looking at it.
How long will the inquiry last?
The inquiry has announced it aims to complete the public hearings by the summer of 2026 – although legal experts say it will probably last until 2027. It is expected to cost tens of millions of pounds.
You can find out more about the inquiry here.
Who is speaking at the inquiry?
Several key figures both inside and outside of Westminster are scheduled to speak at the Covid inquiry.
Former PM David Cameron gave evidence to the inquiry on Monday, where he fought accusations that austerity measures negatively affected the UK’s Covid preparedness.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of Oliver Letwin, the former Minister for Government Policy, and former chancellor George Osborne, who served in Cameron’s government from 2010 to 2016.
On Thursday (June 22), the inquiry heard from Sir Chris Whitty, the government’s current Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the former Chief Scientific Adviser. The two were seen regularly on television screens across the country during the pandemic, addressing questions from journalists and the public.
What has the government said?
Housing Secretary Michael Gove apologised after the video surfaced of Conservative HQ staff having a Christmas party during lockdown in 2020.
He said: “The people who were there I’m sure feel contrite, I certainly hope they do.”
He added: “As I say there was a previous investigation into this and we now know more about it, but I can only say I’m very, very sorry that there were people who were working in Government very hard on [the public’s] behalf, not all of whom on every occasion will have made the right decision in policy terms, but all of the time we were thinking about how we could help [the public] and others.
“There’s a Covid Inquiry ongoing at the moment which will look at the decisions that Government made.”
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