Hancock criticises 'toxic culture' in UK government during Covid-19 pandemic

Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock has defended his record as minister, hitting out at a "toxic culture" and "deep unpleasantness" at the heart of government during the coronavirus pandemic.

He denied that there had been "absence of a plan" and insisted his department did "rise to the challenge" of responding to the biggest public health crisis in a century as he gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Extracts from former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance's diaries read out by lead counsel Hugo Keith complained of a "massive internal mess inside DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) and PHE (Public Health England)".

They recorded that then-cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill said there was a "clear lack of grip in DHSC". In response, Mr Hancock told the inquiry: "It’s normal for the centre, the Cabinet Office, to be sceptical of departments." "I think that the toxic culture that you’ve seen at the centre of government, that’s been the subject of much discussion, was unhelpful in assuming that when anything was difficult or a challenge, therefore there was somehow fault and blame. "That’s a part of the toxic culture that we have seen and some of these exhibits that you’ve just shown demonstrate a lack of generosity or empathy and understanding the difficulty of rising to such a big challenge." While he accepted that DHSC had not got everything right, he said his department had risen to "the challenge overall of responding to the biggest public health challenge in a century".