Hancock survived MPs but questions remain unanswered

Matt Hancock’s first attempt to defend himself against the bombardment of allegations from Dominic Cummings went well. The health secretary appeared in the Commons to answer an urgent question from Labour’s Jon Ashworth on the matter, and he managed to get through the session without appearing beleaguered.

This was partly as a result of a coterie of loyal (to the point of sounding entirely bizarre) Conservative backbenchers who stood up to congratulate the government on not having Cummings in it any more and to thank the health secretary for visiting their local hospital. There had clearly been an energetic effort on the part of Hancock’s PPS and the Conservative whips to get a good number of colleagues to turn up and ask such questions.

Perhaps more helpful and credible were the contributions from more senior figures such as Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary turned health select committee chair who played his part in the seven hour grilling of Cummings yesterday.