Matt Hancock speaking at Covid Inquiry
He's called Boris Johnson's aide Dominic Cummings a 'malign actor'
Matt Hancock has referred to Boris Johnson's former chief adviser Dominic Cummings as a "malign actor" who caused a toxic culture at No 10.
It comes after Mr Hancock rejected claims from previous witnesses at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that he was a liar.
Inquiry counsel Hugo Keith pointed out that Mr Cummings had not only accused Mr Hancock of lying, but also expressed that he was unfit for the job of health secretary.
"The inquiry has no interest in the truth of the allegations," Mr Keith said. "It is impossible for the inquiry to resolve them.
"But the fact that the prime minister, his chief adviser, the deputy cabinet secretary, the cabinet secretary, all questioned your candour, and in large part fitness for the job, is a vital issue to any examination of how well the system responded."
Mr Hancock said he would be "very happy to write with an explanation of each and every one" of the allegations.
He added:
"The impact of the toxic culture, that essentially was caused by the chief adviser, but that clearly I can now see - not that I knew at the time - others were were brought into, that was unhelpful."
He said "the lesson for the future is systems need to be in place so that if there is a malign actor in No 10" or "people whose behaviour is unprofessional" the "the system needs to be able to work despite that".
Asked if he meant Mr Cummings, he said: "Well, in this case, that was the example but that may be in the future."