I don't accept his apology.. none of the families do.. talk is cheap

Bereaved wife's fury at former Health Secretary | He blames approach to 'clear up, not stop' disaster

- MARTIN BAGOT

A WOMAN whose husband died in a care home during the pandemic refused to accept Matt Hancock's apology at the Covid Inquiry.

The former Health and Social Care Secretary said yesterday he was "profoundly sorry" for every person who died from the disease.

Lorelei King, 69, whose husband died in a care home suffering with early onset dementia, said: "I don't accept his apology. None of the bereaved families do because talk is cheap." She added: "I wanted to see his face.

I wanted to see the colour of his skin as he told his story." Relatives turned their backs when Mr Hancock approached them in the public gallery after giving three hours of evidence at the inquiry.

Some shouted "killer" at him as he left the building in Central London.

Mr Hancock, who lost the Tory whip last November after signing up for a £320,000 stint on I'm A Celebrity, had admitted there were insufficient PPE stockpiles and testing capacity but refused to accept fault.

He blamed an emergency planning "doctrine" of "how to clear up a disaster not prevent it".

He said this meant Britain did not bring in a ban on inbound travellers and enforce stringent quarantines because of assumptions that once community transmission had taken hold, the virus would inevitably infect almost everyone.

Mr Hancock said: "That doctrine underpins many of the problems that made it extremely difficult to respond and if I may say so, I am profoundly sorry for the impact that had.