Will Hancock cling on?

Matt Hancock defended his position at a Downing Street press conference yesterday. He told journalists that, by his ‘recollection of events’, he told the Prime Minister that hospital patients would be tested before being sent to care homes ‘when we could do it’. Dominic Cummings says the Health Secretary promised all patients would receive a test.

On the podcast, Isabel Hardman says the press conference setup was ‘a bit shifty’, as journalists were denied follow up questions. ‘What had started off being a reasonably good day for Hancock – he didn’t get a drubbing in the Commons – ended really badly for him. The front pages were hastily rewritten, so he was on the front of many of the newspapers dodging questions,’ Isabel adds.

We also talk about hospital waiting lists: how can the government cut them down? James Forsyth says the PM’s instinct will be to ‘chuck money at the problem and hope that solves it’, while Isabel says that the question over who to treat first – more than 436,000 people have now waited more than a year – looms.

So, as he comes under continued pressure, is Hancock’s position in doubt? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.