Hancock rejects claims he was overconfident, saying he needed to keep the system ‘moving forward’
Helen MacNamara, deputy cabinet secretary, said you had demonstrated a “nuclear” level of confidence. Keith said. Is it right?
Hancock says he reacted in different ways to different people.
In trusting environments, he was self-critical, he said.
But he says he also had to move the system forward.
And he says no one complained about his overconfidence at the time. He pursues :
I was going to come in and say we absolutely have to do this. And there was a huge amount of uncertainty and a huge amount of worry. And I basically felt like it was my professional duty to try to keep going, to keep moving forward.
UPDATE: Hancock said:
There was a huge amount of uncertainty and a huge amount of worry and I basically felt like it was my professional duty to try to keep going, to try to keep moving forward.
Of course, I understand now that some people reacted the same way, but it was a time of enormous uncertainty and a time where I just felt like we needed to keep moving this system forward.
Key events
The Covid hearing has resumed.
Matt Hancock asks if he can add anything to an earlier answer.
He says there is an email from Hancock to the Prime Minister sent on March 13 proposing a suppression strategy. He says it’s hard evidence that he was pushing for a lockdown.
He says it came to light after his book.
Hugo Keith KC says the investigation is aware of this email. He asks Hancock if he uses the word “immediate” or “lockdown” in this email.
Hancock says he doesn’t have the email in front of him.
During evidence in the Covid investigation, Hugo Keith KC presented a WhatsApp message from Matt Hancock on January 23, 2020, in which he said the DHSC had “comprehensive plans up to and including pandemic levels, regularly prepared and updated”.
Sunak says he is ‘not in the hands of ideological fanatics’ over climate crisis
Rishi Sunak asserted this morning that he was “not grappling with ideological fanatics” over the climate crisis.
In a clip shared for broadcasters, ahead of the Cop28 climate summit he is attending, Sunak defended his government’s approach to net zero. He said:
We are a world leader on climate, that’s what the statistics show. We have reduced carbon emissions in this country faster than in any other major economy.
Our targets for the next few years are also more ambitious than those of any other major economy and, for this reason, I thought the right thing to do was to ensure that we achieve net zero in a pragmatic and proportionate measure that will save working families thousands of pounds. .
I am not at the mercy of ideological fanatics on this subject. Of course we’re going to get to net zero emissions, of course that’s important, but we can do it in a reasonable way, saving people money and not burdening them with additional costs.
Helene Horton
THE Country Land and Trade Association (CLA), which represents around half of the managed land in England and Wales, is today holding a conference at which Steve Barclay, the environment secretary, and Steve Reed, his Labor shadow, are calling for the first time their arguments to rural businesses.
The new president of the CLA Victoria Vyvian says the rural economy is being ignored by the government and appears unimpressed by Rishi Sunak’s announcement this week of a new national park. She said to the landowners present:
No one – and this is not said lightly – who lives and works in the national landscape wants a new national park.
I think they need to radically rethink what constitutes an effective national park authority. I think they need to rethink how they set boundaries. And I think most importantly they need to think about how we can run vibrant 21st century businesses in a national park rather than condemning us to changing beds and selling tea in Scotland, possibly on a penny and a courtesy occasionally from visitors. We want to be part of a dynamic economy.
The investigation is on hold until 11:20 a.m.
No written evidence to support Hancock’s claim he told Johnson on March 13, 2020 to order lockdown, inquiry finds
Hancock claims that on Friday March 13, the day after sending the “better prepared” message (see 10:52) and after changing his mind about the seriousness of the situation, he told Johnson that the government should go into lockdown.
Keith points out that Hancock doesn’t mention it in his book Pandemic Diaries. He suggests that Hancock would have wanted to mention something so important.
There’s a whole page about how you woke up for the dawn flight to Belfast…it had the Prime Minister’s meeting, Prime Minister’s papers, a video call and according to your book you said: “I called the Prime Minister and told him that we would have to reverse course very quickly on the issue of herd immunity, then he called Patrick who promised to do his best to repair the damage.
Telling the Prime Minister of this country for the first time that he should call for an immediate lockdown surely deserves some memories, doesn’t it?
Hancock claims that, when writing the book, he did not have full access to his papers. He says this fact came to light when he was researching his documents before this investigation.
Keith Hancock says in Pandemic Diaries that the account it contains has been “meticulously pieced together” from official documents, notes and WhatsApp messages. And he claims the investigation found no evidence that Hancock told Johnson on March 13 that there should be a lockdown.
He asks Hancock if he’s sure that’s what he told Johnson.
Hancock replied: “I remember. »
He claims the evidence was discovered while he was preparing the investigation.
Hancock claimed UK was ‘better prepared than other countries’ for Covid on March 12, 2020, survey finds
Keith shows a WhatsApp message from Hancock to Dominic Cummings on March 12, 2020 in which Hancock said the UK was “better prepared than other countries”.
Keith asks Hancock why he said that. Keith says:
On March 12, you probably knew that we were no better prepared than other countries. There was – as you have already recognized – no system for isolating test traces on a large scale, beyond the first cases. There was no effective means of infection control. There was no border plan or quarantine system in place. By that date, you knew there was sustained community transmission in the UK and you knew the infection fatality rate was 1% – 1% of all infected people would die. Why did you say we are better prepared than other countries?
Hancock said it was a message regarding communications.
But he also says that the next day, Friday March 13, he changed his mind. He says his message came at a time that marked the “end of the road” for this approach.
UPDATE: PA Media reports:
Asked if he had a responsibility to do more to warn British citizens of an approaching “wall of death”, Hancock said: “In my public communications, you will know that I had at that time explained that perhaps we need to do this, yes. But I’m also a team player and the government’s position was “not yet”.
Q: You probably knew that the government was not responding quickly and effectively.
Hancock said that in many cases people had arguments for doing what they were doing.
There was also this “toxic culture,” he says. But this caused more problems later.
He says people have asked him if he really wanted to tell people, up front, that it might be necessary to shut down entire towns. He thought that, he said.
Hancock rejects claims he was overconfident, saying he needed to keep the system ‘moving forward’
Helen MacNamara, deputy cabinet secretary, said you had demonstrated a “nuclear” level of confidence. Keith said. Is it right?
Hancock says he reacted in different ways to different people.
In trusting environments, he was self-critical, he said.
But he says he also had to move the system forward.
And he says no one complained about his overconfidence at the time. He pursues :
I was going to come in and say we absolutely have to do this. And there was a huge amount of uncertainty and a huge amount of worry. And I basically felt like it was my professional duty to try to keep going, to keep moving forward.
UPDATE: Hancock said:
There was a huge amount of uncertainty and a huge amount of worry and I basically felt like it was my professional duty to try to keep going, to try to keep moving forward.
Of course, I understand now that some people reacted the same way, but it was a time of enormous uncertainty and a time where I just felt like we needed to keep moving this system forward.
Keith shows an exchange of messages between Hancock and Boris Johnson in early March.
Keith suggests that at this stage Hancock should have asked for more help from No10.
Hancock said that at that point, No. 10 was fully engaged. Johnson had previously presided over a Cobra. And he says the exchanges show him calling for a whole national effort on Covid.
