This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/27/matt-hancock-says-he-is-profoundly-sorry-for-covid-readiness-failings-inquiry
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Matt Hancock ‘profoundly sorry’ for Covid readiness failings | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Former health secretary tells inquiry he did not properly challenge assurances that plans were sufficient | Former health secretary tells inquiry he did not properly challenge assurances that plans were sufficient |
| Matt Hancock has said he is “profoundly sorry” for his part in mistakes that ensured the UK was not properly prepared for Covid, telling the public inquiry into the pandemic that he had not properly challenged assurances that sufficient planning was in place. | Matt Hancock has said he is “profoundly sorry” for his part in mistakes that ensured the UK was not properly prepared for Covid, telling the public inquiry into the pandemic that he had not properly challenged assurances that sufficient planning was in place. |
| Echoing the view of several earlier witnesses, Hancock, who was health secretary before the outbreak and at its height, said the UK had made a “huge error” in assuming a pandemic would be flu-based and could not be prevented from spreading. | Echoing the view of several earlier witnesses, Hancock, who was health secretary before the outbreak and at its height, said the UK had made a “huge error” in assuming a pandemic would be flu-based and could not be prevented from spreading. |
| Asked if preparations for a pandemic had been hugely inadequate, Hancock agreed. Hugo Keith KC, the lead counsel for the inquiry, asked if he “bore ministerial responsibility for that calamitous state of affairs”. | Asked if preparations for a pandemic had been hugely inadequate, Hancock agreed. Hugo Keith KC, the lead counsel for the inquiry, asked if he “bore ministerial responsibility for that calamitous state of affairs”. |
| Hancock replied: “I bear responsibility for all the things that happened, not only in my department, but also the agencies that reported to me as secretary of state.” | Hancock replied: “I bear responsibility for all the things that happened, not only in my department, but also the agencies that reported to me as secretary of state.” |
| While the UK had been mistaken in planning for a flu-based illness, Hancock said, the central error had been the assumption that it would not be possible to stop a pandemic. | While the UK had been mistaken in planning for a flu-based illness, Hancock said, the central error had been the assumption that it would not be possible to stop a pandemic. |
| “The doctrine of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster,” Hancock said. “Can we buy enough body bags? Where are we going to bury the dead? And that was completely wrong. Of course, it’s important to have that in case you failed to stop a pandemic. But central to pandemic planning needs to be how do you stop that disaster from happening in the first place? How do you suppress the virus?” | “The doctrine of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster,” Hancock said. “Can we buy enough body bags? Where are we going to bury the dead? And that was completely wrong. Of course, it’s important to have that in case you failed to stop a pandemic. But central to pandemic planning needs to be how do you stop that disaster from happening in the first place? How do you suppress the virus?” |
| This was, Hancock said, “at the centre of the failure of preparation”. He added: “All of the other considerations are important but small compared to the colossal scale of failure in the assumption.” | This was, Hancock said, “at the centre of the failure of preparation”. He added: “All of the other considerations are important but small compared to the colossal scale of failure in the assumption.” |
| Keith challenged Hancock as to why in the 18 months he served as health secretary before Covid he did not seek to change this, given he said he had worries about areas including vaccines and testing. | Keith challenged Hancock as to why in the 18 months he served as health secretary before Covid he did not seek to change this, given he said he had worries about areas including vaccines and testing. |
| “Because I was assured that the UK planning was among the best and in some instances the best in the world,” Hancock said. “Of course, with hindsight, I wish I’d spent that short period of time as health secretary before the pandemic struck changing the entire attitude to how we respond to a pandemic.” | “Because I was assured that the UK planning was among the best and in some instances the best in the world,” Hancock said. “Of course, with hindsight, I wish I’d spent that short period of time as health secretary before the pandemic struck changing the entire attitude to how we respond to a pandemic.” |
| There had been, Hancock went on, a “huge error in the doctrine” before Covid. Sounding emotional, he added: “If I may say so, I am profoundly sorry, for the impact that had, I’m profoundly sorry for each death that has occurred. And I also understand why, for some, it will be hard to take that apology from me. | There had been, Hancock went on, a “huge error in the doctrine” before Covid. Sounding emotional, he added: “If I may say so, I am profoundly sorry, for the impact that had, I’m profoundly sorry for each death that has occurred. And I also 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. And I’m not very good at talking about my emotions on how I feel. But that is honest and true. And all I can do is ensure that this inquiry gets to the bottom of it, and that for the future we learn the right lessons, so that we stop a pandemic in its tracks much, much earlier.” | “I understand that, I get it. But it is honest and heartfelt. And I’m not very good at talking about my emotions on how I feel. But that is honest and true. And all I can do is ensure that this inquiry gets to the bottom of it, and that for the future we learn the right lessons, so that we stop a pandemic in its tracks much, much earlier.” |
| Sign up to First Edition | |
| Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning | |
| after newsletter promotion | |
| Hancock said that while he had concerns over a lack of UK capacity to manufacture vaccines and the inability to scale up testing, he had been told that outside bodies, including the World Health Organization, had said the UK’s pandemic preparedness was excellent overall. | |
| “You can understand that 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,” he said. “That turned out to be wrong.” | “You can understand that 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,” he said. “That turned out to be wrong.” |
| Under close questioning from Keith, Hancock accepted that he did not appear to have attended any meetings of the national security committee that focused on threats, hazards, resilience and contingencies before Covid. | Under close questioning from Keith, Hancock accepted that he did not appear to have attended any meetings of the national security committee that focused on threats, hazards, resilience and contingencies before Covid. |
| He also agreed that quite a lot of pandemic planning had been suspended as ministers focused on the possible impact of a no-deal Brexit. But he argued that some of that work proved useful in the pandemic, for example efforts to shore up medicine supply chains: “The work done for a no-deal Brexit on supply chains for medicines was the difference between running out of medicines in the peak of the pandemic and not running out. | |
| “We came extremely close, within hours, of running out of medicines for intensive care during the pandemic. It wasn’t widely reported at the time.” | “We came extremely close, within hours, of running out of medicines for intensive care during the pandemic. It wasn’t widely reported at the time.” |