Analysis: Expect a fiery response to Cummings accusations from Hancock
By Rob Powell, political correspondent
We don’t quite know how long Matt Hancock’s appearance in front of the Science and Technology Committee will last.
But when Dominic Cummings sat in front of the same MPs just a fortnight ago, he was there for seven hours and it was an extraordinary session. I don’t think Matt Hancock will be there quite as long but the MPs will get a number of hours to go over his record throughout the pandemic in detail.
You can expect some of those revelations from Dominic Cummings to be put to him as well.
Clearly, chief among them will be the question of care homes and whether Mr Hancock did promise that all COVID patients would be tested before moving from hospitals to care homes. That is what Dominic Cummings said the health secretary had promised.
I think we will essentially hear from the health secretary that he used his best efforts to test as many people as possible but there simply weren’t enough tests at the time.
Judging by the interviews Mr Hancock’s given since then, I don’t think there is any love lost between the two men.
We’ve seen that the health secretary, when pressed, often comes out swinging.
When those accusations are put to Mr Hancock, you can expect a pretty fiery response.
