Ministers rally behind Covid inquiry after Hancock WhatsApp revelations

Government seeks to bolster confidence in public investigation amid claims process will take too long

Ministers are battling to maintain confidence in the official Covid inquiry after it emerged that Matt Hancock entrusted more than 100,000 official WhatsApp messages to a journalist renowned as an outspoken critic of lockdown.

The messages, given by the former health secretary to Isabel Oakeshott, who then passed them to the Daily Telegraph, prompted calls from bereaved families' groups and Labour for the inquiry to be given more teeth and be completed swiftly.