The Latest Breaking News from Hancock

Slow starts can no longer be chalked up to small sample sizes.

Since Dutton became opposition leader, the billionaire mining magnate has cultivated their bond. We look back at their increasingly close relationship

The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul explains all you need to know as Boris Johnson faces the Covid inquiry

I expect to see his version of Jack Nicholson’s defiance in A Few Good Men. But ignore all that – this was his mess, his debacle, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

The Plot: the Political Assassination of Boris Johnson says a secretive Tory cabal brought down the ex-PM – and Rishi Sunak takes advice from ‘Dr No’

Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, has told the recently opened COVID-19 Inquiry that the UK’s pandemic planning was “completely wrong”. According to Hancock, the doctrine was “to plan for the consequences of a disaster” rather than stopping or containing the virus in the first place.

Our thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one

Brief letters: Mispronunciation | Unseasonal salads | Ingredients | Yes, we have no tomatoes | Hancock in the stocks | Home Office

Labour says No 10 ‘more than capable of answering those questions now’