NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens stays tight-lipped when asked whether Matt Hancock is ‘hopeless’
NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens has failed to confirm he has confidence in Matt Hancock.
Asked repeatedly if, having worked alongside the health secretary during the pandemic, he has confidence in his ability, Sir Simon refused to give Mr Hancock his support.
Pressed on whether the health secretary is hopeless, the NHS boss smirks after an awkward pause and fails to answer.
“I mean, that is a political question,” he added.
Matt Hancock has said he does not think he is hopeless
It comes a day after Dominic Cummings published expletive-laden WhatsApp messages, allegedly from Boris Johnson, in which the PM appears to call Mr Hancock “hopeless”.
The PM’s former senior aide published the messages as part of a 7,000-word blogpost which appears to include a series of claims about Mr Johnson and Mr Hancock, including that the prime minister considered removing responsibility for PPE from the health secretary.
In one exchange, which Mr Cummings said was part of late-night messages on 26 March 2020, he and Mr Johnson appear to be discussing actions from “MH” in boosting the UK’s COVID testing capacity.
The screenshot shows a reply from the prime minister stating: “Totally f****** hopeless”.
On Wednesday, Dominic Cummings published messages allegedly from the PM
At a lobby briefing on Wednesday, Downing Street did not deny the messages were authentic, but assured journalists that the PM has full confidence in the health secretary.
“I am not planning to engage with every allegation put forward, the prime minister has worked very closely with the health secretary throughout and will continue to do so,” the spokesman said.
Asked if there were security concerns about Mr Cummings’s disclosure of messages, the spokesman added: “I don’t plan to get into individual cases, there are rules published for former advisers to observe.”
As he left the Department of Health for the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Hancock was asked if he believed himself to be “hopeless”.
“I don’t think so,” he replied.
Pressed again on the matter on Thursday, the health secretary said: “I’m not going to get in to that.”
But when the text messages were put to Sir Simon on Thursday, he could not say that he had full faith in the health secretary.
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‘Are you hopeless Mr Hancock?’
Sir Simon is due to step down as head of NHS England at the end of July after having overseen the COVID vaccination rollout to adults.
The PM has previously praised Sir Simon for leading the NHS with “great distinction” and he is due to become a peer in the House of Lords following his departure.
But there has not always been such an amicable relationship between Sir Simon and Mr Johnson, who attended Oxford University together, with tensions occurring between ministers and top health officials throughout the pandemic.
There were concerns earlier in the year that the NHS would not be able to successfully roll out the vaccination programme.
But those sceptical have since been proven wrong, with Mr Hancock announcing on Thursday that all over 18s will be able to take up the offer of a jab.
Possible successors to Sir Simon include Conservative peer and former head of the government’s Test and Trace programme Baroness Dido Harding.
Baroness Harding, who is the wife of Tory MP John Penrose, formally entered the running to become the top boss of England’s healthcare system on Thursday.
Migrants travelling to Ireland after arriving in the UK on small boats is a sign the Rwanda scheme is already working as a deterrent, Rishi Sunak has said.
Sky News’s Trevor Phillips asked the prime minister if migrants finding their way to Ireland was a sign the UK was “exporting the problem”.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister Micheal Martin said on Friday the threat of being deported to Rwanda had caused an influx of migrants to cross the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic.
In his interview – which will air in full on Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show tomorrow at 8.30am – Mr Sunak was asked about the comments, saying they illustrated “the deterrent is… already having an impact”.
“People are worried about coming here and that demonstrates exactly what I’m saying,” he said. “If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay there, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”
Downing Street on Friday rebuffed claims the Rwanda plan was already influencing movements into Ireland, saying it was too early to jump to conclusions on its impact.
Mr Sunak said the comments also illustrate “that illegal migration is a global challenge”.
“[That] is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe will follow where the UK has led,” he said.
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Mr Martin told The Daily Telegraph that the policy was already affecting Ireland, as people were “fearful” of staying in the UK.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister said: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”
Mr Martin, who is also Ireland’s foreign minister, said asylum seekers were looking “to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda”.
Read more:
Anti-immigrant camp in Dublin ‘not about racism’, residents say
Danger for Sunak if new Act does not stop boats
On the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which finally became law this week after so-called “ping pong” between the Commons and the House of Lords, Mr Sunak said a deterrent was the only way to stop the boats.
“We did just have an important moment this week that in spite of all the opposition from the Labour Party we have passed the Rwanda bill through Parliament in the face of enormous opposition,” he told Sir Trevor.
“That’s important because the only way to fully solve this problem is to have a deterrent, so that if people come to a country illegally, they’re not able to stay, and we can return them.”
Refugee groups in Ireland admit that the threat of being deported to Rwanda is, as the Irish government claims, driving migrants across the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic.
Nick Henderson of the Irish Refugee Council told Sky News: “As long as there is a Rwanda policy and the Illegal Migration Act which states that somebody can’t lodge an application for asylum in the UK and have it considered if they enter in an irregular way, it’s going to have knock-on effects on Ireland, that’s plain to see.”
Now that the Rwanda legislation has finally become law, Tory MPs believe the PM can no longer blame his political opponents in parliament, in the Commons and the Lords, if it fails to stop the boats.
The danger for Mr Sunak, even his supporters concede, is that even if planes do take off for Rwanda this summer and some migrants head for Ireland, it may not stop the tide of more illegal migrants crossing the channel.
His comments came after Ireland’s justice minister told a committee of the Irish Parliament she estimates more than 80% of migrants in the Republic had crossed from Northern Ireland.
The UK’s prime minister told Trevor Phillips his focus “is on the United Kingdom and securing our border”.
Read more:
What impact will bill have on immigration?
Sunak staking premiership on Rwanda flights plan
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Safety of Rwanda Bill became an Act on Thursday, with Number 10 announcing the same day that the first deportation plane had been booked.
After a number of setbacks and delays, the bill passed in parliament earlier this week and then received royal assent, with Home Secretary James Cleverly hailing the approval as a “landmark moment in our plan to stop the boats”.
Anticipating the bill’s passage, the prime minister earlier this week promised the first flights would take off in 10 to 12 weeks – “come what may”.
Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am
According to the prosecutors, the increased scale of the losses justifies the sentence recommendation.
Politics
Humza Yousaf: Scotland’s first minister claims Holyrood election could be called – as vote of no confidence looms
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf claims a Holyrood election could be called as he refuses to say if he will resign if he loses a looming vote of no confidence.
Speaking exclusively to Sky News in Fife on Saturday, the SNP leader said it was “really disappointing” to learn the Greens will refuse to enter further talks to change their minds on voting against him in a ballot which could prove fatal for his leadership.
Mr Yousaf has today written to all the opposition parties, including Alex Salmond’s Alba party, at Holyrood urging them to rethink their plot to oust him.
Humza Yousaf
The SNP leader said on Saturday that he was leaving it to his rivals to determine his fate.
A Green Party source said the only letter they will accept from the first minister is his resignation.
Mr Yousaf told Sky News: “Well let me say again, that would be really disappointing if that is the Greens’ position.
“As I say, I’ve reached out to them, they are saying publicly that they’re going to support a Conservative motion against independence, first minister and independence government.
“That would be, I think, a poor choice to make.”
Asked if there might be a Scottish election if he doesn’t win the vote, Mr Yousaf replied: “Can’t rule it out.”
Ash Regan. Pic: PA
The casting vote now looks likely to be Alba MSP Ash Regan who sensationally defected from the SNP in the wake of her defeat in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon last year.
Sky News understands Alba is holding an emergency meeting this weekend to determine how it will cast the key vote.
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Yousaf to ‘fight’ no confidence vote
When asked how SNP members would feel about being “propped up” by Mr Salmond, Mr Yousaf said: “Let me make it really, really clear, I’ll be sending out to anybody I meet with, whoever comes round that table, that these are the priorities of the SNP minority government.
“This is what we’ll be pursuing, this is what we’ll be pushing. It’ll then be up to be it Ash Regan, be it Lorna Slater, be it Patrick Harvie or any of them, to decide what button they push when it comes to the vote of no confidence.”
Read more:
How did we get here – and what happens next?
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The first minister was asked twice whether he would resign if he failed to win the confidence of parliament.
He responded: “Again, I’m not planning to lose the vote of no confidence, I’m planning to win that vote of no confidence.”
Asked if his position would be untenable, he said “Planning to win.”
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