Matt Hancock reveals 'biggest regret' of pandemic during COVID Inquiry grilling - what you missed today

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Matt Hancock has told the COVID-19 inquiry that his "single biggest regret" during the pandemic was not pushing harder on the risk of asymptomatic transmission.

At Thursday's session, the former health secretary said that in early 2020 there was a "fog of uncertainty" among the scientific community on this particular issue.

Hancock says he took warnings coming from China and Germany that Covid could be passed by people without symptoms seriously and thought it was best to play it safe.

He told the inquiry that the "anecdotal evidence" he had wasn't enough to sway UK scientists, advisers and, more importantly, policymakers.

However, the hearing was shown messages from chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, who said they didn't understand why Hancock was saying they weren't aware of the risks.

Perhaps one of the most revelatory moments from Thursday's session was Hancock admitting that there was never a "protective ring" put around care homes as the government claimed. Really, all he'd done was provide additional PPE and funding for the sector.

With Thursday's session now over, here are the highlights from Matt Hancock's tough day of questioning:

• Hancock described an "unhealthy toxic culture" of blame in government where anything that went wrong with his department was seen as an "intentional failure".

• He said he pushed for lockdown during a call with Boris Johnson on 13 March 2020. He recalled this very clearly in his book, but the inquiry was puzzled as to why there was no record of such an important call in his diary.

• He claimed he was always worried about asymptomatic transmission, and that his "single biggest regret" was not pushing harder on this issue. Sir Patrick Vallance and Sir Chris Whitty said they didn't understand why Hancock thought they weren't paying attention to this risk.

• Responding to claims by several high-up advisers and civil servants that he was a "liar" who would get "over-excited and just say stuff", Hancock said those are "false allegations" and part of the so-called "toxic culture".

• Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's former top adviser, instilled a "culture of fear" and tried to stage a "power grab which was "inappropriate in a democracy", Hancock claimed.

• The former health secretary admitted, "in hindsight" that the UK should have locked-down much earlier, but that there were concerns at the time over how the public might react.

You can read more about Matt Hancock's testimony in our blog below.

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