Members of the Mirror readers’ panel, made up of campaigners from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice action group, said Mr Hancock’s apologies were “insincere” and “didn’t wash”.
Deborah Doyle, from Newcastle, lost her mum Sylvia Griffiths, 76, in April 2020 to the virus.
After attending the hearing, she said: “He had the odd head tilt and a look of sincerity but it didn’t wash. He even looked over at us and gave an extended mournful stare as some form of recompense.”
At the end of his testimony, the ex-Health Secretary walked over to the public gallery and attempted to apologise to the bereaved families gathered there, some of who turned their backs on him.
Ms Doyle said: “He tried to say, ‘I’m so sorry’ but people were getting upset and telling him, ‘no’.
“We didn’t want to make a scene but it felt insincere and inappropriate for him to approach us.”
Lynn Jones, from Stoke-on-Trent, whose headteacher husband Gareth, 66, died in 2021, says Mr Hancock’s decisions to go on I’m A Celebrity and release his Pandemic Diaries appear at odds with his ‘profound’ apologies to the inquiry.
She said: “The dismissive arrogance towards the public of successive Tory Governments has left our country and its people in a vulnerable position, yet we are still led to believe that the Government has systems in place to protect us.
“He revealed behind the scenes there is chaos and ineptitude of the highest level. All I could think of throughout Mr Hancock’s ‘apology’ and testimony was the line on Dominic Cummings’ whiteboard: ‘Who do we not save?’”
Jamie Mawson lost his 70-year-old dad Richie to Covid in April 2020.
He believes Mr Hancock ‘hid’ behind the assumption the Government assumed the pandemic would be unstoppable.
He added: “That he and his colleagues failed to prepare to save lives, and instead focused on the disposal of bodies, is now and always will be inexcusable.
“Whether this mistake was due to complacency, incompetence or reluctance to spend money, the UK deserved better from the Health Secretary and the Government.
“Questions still remain over why the UK was one of the last European countries to realise that the pandemic could be slowed through lockdowns, and why the social care system was in such a mess when Mr Hancock’s party had been in power for the decade leading up to the pandemic.
“Mr Hancock, along with the Government, has blood on his hands and this will be fully exposed in the inquiry.
“My dad, along with thousands of others, should still be here with us. But because of the Government’s decision-making and lack of preparedness, my family lost a fit and healthy man, which always will have a devastating effect on my family.
“We still can’t believe he’s no longer with us.”
