Matt Hancock accuses Dominic Cummings of creating ‘culture of fear’ at No 10

Matt Hancock told the Covid inquiry that Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser had too much influence over decision making during the early pandemic and created a ‘culture of fear’ at Downing Street. Hancock said Cummings ‘inculcated a culture of fear, whereas what we needed was a culture where everybody was brought to the table and given their heads to do their level best in a once-in-a-generation crisis. The way to lead in a crisis like this is to give people the confidence to do what they think needs to happen. And it caused the opposite of that.’