Matt Hancock wanted to decide who should live and who should die during Covid – former NHS boss

Dominic Cummings asked whether the true problem was him ‘calling Hancock “a lying c*** killing people’” or ‘Hancock actually being a lying c*** killing people’

Matt Hancock wanted to personally decide “who should live and who should die” if hospitals became overwhelmed at the height of the Covid pandemic, the former boss of the NHS has said.

In another day of explosive evidence at the official coronavirus inquiry, Simon Stevens said ministers were warned in February 2020 that as many as 840,000 people could perish – sparking the “unresolved but fundamental ethical debate” about who should be prioritised for NHS care.

In a shocking response, Mr Hancock, the then health secretary, argued that he – rather than doctors or the public – should decide who should be prioritised. Mr Hancock “took the position that in this situation he ... should ultimately decide who should live and who should die”, Lord Stevens told the hearing.