Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Daniel Keane and Jordan King

Hancock didn't know about Eat Out to Help Out until day of announcement, inquiry told

Matt Hancock told the Covid Inquiry he did not know about the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme until the cabinet meeting the day it was announced to the public

The former health secretary went on to say he does not know what he would have said if he had been told about it in advance.

Mr Hancock also admitted the UK went into the first Covid lockdown three weeks too late.

He explained that he regarded February 28 2020, as the “moment that the centre of Government, led by the Prime Minister, really started to come into action".

He said that ministers should have acted on February 28 after seeing Sage's calculation that half a million people could die without intervention.

“Having obviously thought about this and reflected on this a huge deal over the last few years, the first moment we realistically could have really cracked it was on March 2, three weeks earlier than we did.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.