Lord Sedwill, the UK’s former cabinet secretary at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, has revealed that he advised Boris Johnson to replace Matt Hancock as the health secretary. Speaking at the Covid inquiry, Lord Sedwill said he expressed his concerns over Hancock’s handling of the pandemic response in a private meeting with Johnson during the summer of 2020. The ex-official revealed that he had told Johnson that “Hancock is so far up [his] arse his ankles are brown” on a WhatsApp message to Simon Case, the former permanent secretary at No 10.
In another exchange, Lord Sedwill appeared to describe Hancock as “totally incompetent”, following Hancock’s controversial trip to Barnard Castle, while AG Suella Braverman’s actions on Covid laws were also criticised. Lord Sedwill accepted that his comments were “inappropriate, even in a private exchange”, although he said that it was “gallows humour” which marked the government’s messaging at the time.
The inquiry has also revealed WhatsApp messages that showed tensions between civil servants and ministers of the government. One message from Mr Case referred to working in the Johnson government as “taming wild animals” while another referred to unnamed advisers as “basically feral”. Lord Sedwill told the inquiry that he had been approached by Johnson at a later stage, during which they discussed whether Hancock was the right person for the next phase of Covid management.
The inquiry is currently looking into the political response to Covid during the pandemic. In an apology, Lord Sedwill also stated that his chickenpox party remarks, which had suggested that people hold such parties to boost their immunity to the virus, were both “heartless and thoughtless”. The inquiry will continue taking witness evidence until Christmas before moving to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Both Lord Sedwill and Mr Case are expected to face further questions
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