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JOccasionally a fool has an even rest. Usually it’s Matt Hancock who gets all the shitty gigs and he’s the No. 10 “designated scapegoat”. But while all Boris Johnson got from his hospital visit to observe one of the first shots, soon every jabbee will be broadcast With a “I don’t want to be used as a politician photo shoot” sticker, it was a lot of questions. On the Brexit negotiations he couldn’t deal with, Hancock was able to enjoy his moment of glory. A savior had risen from the streets and to everyone’s surprise, not least Matt, that person was him. Even if it was only for one day.
Hancock’s day had started with a puzzle. Had he or had he not cried on ITV’s Good Morning Britain upon seeing images of William Shakespeare from the Stratford-on-Avon area (actually) getting his coronavirus jab? Matt certainly looked tearful, but not everyone was completely convinced. Still, it did well on TV.
He had said how emotional he was, he had lowered his face while rubbing his eyes, and yet it was difficult to detect a genuine tear. Perhaps it was just an old-fashioned British reservation or perhaps all of her tears had been spent on the 60,000 people who had already died from the coronavirus, many of them in nursing homes as a direct result of her department’s negligence. “I’m proud to be British,” he said, his voice cracking, as he conveniently forgot that the vaccine had been manufactured by a German biotech company working in collaboration with an American pharmaceutical giant.
Certainly, when the health secretary arrived at the Commons at lunchtime to answer an urgent question about vaccine distribution, he seemed to have regained his composure. This was going to be his moment and he was determined to enjoy every second. Very often he has been asked to explain why the government’s response to the coronavirus has been desperate at best and reckless at worst, but now he was happy to be adorned with garlands from both sides of the city. House. This year has been incessantly gloomy and MPs from all parties were glad to have good news to share with each other. Many seemed far more excited than Hancock had ever seen on TV earlier in the day.
Matt didn’t really have much to say, beyond repeating what he’d said on his rounds of transmission. It was a historic day, but we must not get carried away because the NHS faced a Herculean task in introducing the vaccination program across the country. Until now, vaccines were restricted to 70 central hospitals, but he expected other hospitals and nursing homes to receive supplies next week. But we still had a long way to go and if we were going to get over it, people should play by the rules. For some reason, he failed to say that one way to help might be to eliminate the five days of Christmas free for all, which would surely increase the death toll in January and February.
In general, except for the most important mistakes, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth has tried to take a constructive critical approach in his responses to Hancock’s statements on the coronavirus. Today it was only for total love. This was a great day and I wasn’t going to spoil it with any complaints. So all I wanted to know was if every nursing home would get the vaccine before Christmas – spoiler alert – they probably won’t as we don’t have enough stock and can’t be sure when the next batches will arrive, and if junior NHS staff would qualify as priority recipients.
Hancock managed to successfully answer completely different questions while repeating that it had been an exciting day. Jeremy Hunt, chair of the health selection committee, asked the question that literally had no one in mind. Was it now safe for everyone to book their summer vacation? He had gotten a great deal on a villa in the Seychelles, but he would like the health secretary to give him the go ahead before depositing a deposit. Hancock simply said that he had already arranged his own Cornish holiday. Or failing that, the Isle of Wight. Basically anywhere on level 1.
Most of the rest of the questions were equally gentle. If not so random. Everyone welcomed the vaccine, but wanted to know when it would arrive at a hospital near their constituencies and, although they had the exclusive attention of the health secretary, would he consider moving his region down a notch next week in celebration? ? Matt just smiled benignly, assuring everyone that he had the logistics under control and that he would do what he could when the time was right. It even managed to curb the jingoistic rhetoric of the UK’s place in world history as the first country to administer the vaccine. He mentioned it twice though.
Only a few MPs dared to ask some of the toughest questions. For example, why was tracking and tracing still a disaster when it was going to be key to protecting the nation’s health in the next few months before deployment was complete? And what were the contingency plans to bring the vaccine to the country if there were delays at the border caused by Brexit?
“We have five contingency plans,” Hancock insisted. Well, could you tell us what they were? Asked Emma Lewell-Buck of Labor. Matt couldn’t. This level of information was top secret and he would have to kill her if she told him. Which was strange, since Hancock had already told the country what they were during his press round earlier that day. Trucks, ships, a variety of ports, commercial aircraft, and if all else failed, the RAF. Still, perhaps Hancock could be forgiven for this memory lapse. As he had said several times, it had been an emotional day. Even losers are lucky sometimes.
