A group representing Covid bereaved families has called for former health secretary Matt Hancock to be removed from the Privy Council in the wake of the Covid inquiry report on social care.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK is urging the prime minister to recommend Hancock’s removal to the king, calling it an “important symbolic first step” towards accountability. Removal would strip Hancock of the title “Right Honourable”.
While membership of the Privy Council is conferred for life, the monarch can remove an individual from the body.
The Covid inquiry report, published on Tuesday, said that the social care sector “appeared to be something of an afterthought” and there was no “protective ring” for care homes at the start of the pandemic.
The inquiry stated: “The UK government and devolved administrations knew, prior to the pandemic, of the extreme vulnerability of care home residents to respiratory viruses.”
The Covid report further concluded that Hancock’s reference to a “protective ring” around care homes “did not reflect what was happening in care homes in the first weeks and months of the pandemic.”
It added: “By the time Mr Hancock made this statement, thousands of people had died in care homes in England.”
A spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said it was “indefensible that Matt Hancock remains a member of the Privy Council.”
Hancock did not comment on the publication of Tuesday’s report, but he has previously defended his handling of an “impossible” situation.
On Wednesday, Andy Burnham agreed to meet bereaved families following the publication of the inquiry report. The prime minister accepted the invitation in response to a post by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group on X.
@CovidJusticeUK Yes, of course.
— Andy Burnham (@andyburnham) October 21, 2026
This came after Burnham addressed the report at prime minister’s questions (PMQs) in response to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
Burnham told the House: “Have they [the Conservatives] had the time to read the Covid inquiry report yesterday about the appalling state of social care as it went into the pandemic, the hundreds of 1000s of British people who suffered as a result of that, the lives that were lost.
“I need no lectures from the other side about taking tough decisions on social care. I suggest they go away from this PMQs, read that report, and have a period of reflection.”
Andy Burnham at #PMQs: “Have they had the time to read the Covid inquiry report yesterday about the appalling state of social care as it went into the pandemic? “I need no lectures from the other side about taking tough decisions on social care. I suggest they have a period of reflection.”
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK pressure group pointed to precedent for the removal of members of the Privy Council. Elliot Morley was removed in 2011 following convictions for expenses fraud, and Peter Mandelson in March 2026.
The group has launched a petition supporting its call.
Members of the privy council have previously resigned from the body, usually in disgrace. These figures include John Profumo (1963), John Stonehouse (1976) and Jonathan Aitken (1997). Profumo, Stonehouse and Aitken were the only three people to resign from the Privy Council in the 20th century.
Missing MP John Stonehouse arrested in Australia on Christmas Eve
