The Adventure of the Hancock Dishonour

Until this weekend I had a certain level of sympathy for Matt Hancock. Generally the UK's Health Secretary isn't really in the public eye in the same way as some of the other members of the cabinet but only a few months into his tenure and he had to deal with a global pandemic. There never seemed to be a moment when he looked like he knew what he was doing and he couldn't cope with being interviewed on camera at all, always appearing like his programming still had some serious bugs. There was the moment he attempted to cry on camera which was unconvincing to say the least and the bizarre moment he talked to a Sky News journalist and then suddenly jogged away down the street. Even Boris Johnson called him 'fucking hopeless'. As much as I was continually frustrated about the decisions the government made I'd felt that Hancock was just a decent man (or possibly android) attempting to do his best in a difficult situation. 

But no, Hancock turned out to be a massive arse. He was caught on camera kissing a woman who wasn't his wife. The fact he was having an affair and both parties had three kids is pretty bad on it's own. But this happened during the time that Hancock was telling everyone to strictly follow the rules and socially distance. Oh and you can add on the fact that he gave her a job and gave her brother a significant contract which brings up all sorts of questions about the way contracts were given during this time, something which was already under scrutiny. 

I have had quite a lot of thoughts about this scenario. For a start, one wonders what on Earth this Gina woman saw in Hancock? In what way could he possibly be attractive? But it makes me wonder how a seemingly intelligent man could do something so stupid. To have an affair, to continue having it when you're the one constantly spouting strict covid rules and not to ever realise that you will almost certainly be caught out by the media sooner or later.

I'm not saying I don't make mistakes. Last weekend I managed to go for a walk wearing my T-shirt inside out and I had to hide in a bush to change it- it would have been obvious what I was doing and I wasn't that keen on the idea of the general public believing I can't dress myself, even if it may partially be true. But there's a world of difference between a silly error when dressing to deliberately doing something so morally wrong. 

Somewhat inevitably, Boris Johnson was quick to say Hancock had his full support despite the leaked messages called him 'fucking hopeless'. Johnson is a man who has had so many affairs that no-one knows how many children he has- it's possible even he doesn't know. It would have been somewhat hypocritical if he'd have said anything else. Soon though the pressure grew from within the conservative party and Hancock's programming concluded that the best course of action was to resign. I like to imagine the utter panic that went round the senior Tories as they tried to come with an excuse to why they couldn't take the job. In the end Johnson sought out the most benign senior conservative that exists in Sajid Javid (poor man). 

The covid situation is somewhat confusing at the moment. After getting on for eighteen months of news about the pandemic it's becomes more and more boring to read about it. Numbers of cases are quickly rising once more here in the UK, something that can be once again blamed on Johnson's lack of decision-making as he allowed people from India to enter the country despite the prevalence of the delta variant. It's hard to know how concerned we should be about the rise in cases. The number of hospitalizations from covid remains pretty low now that a good proportion of the country has been vaccinated. Does that now mean covid is edging to be something more like 'flu in that it can be serious for some people but for the vast majority of people who have been vaccinated it will be a fairly mild illness. 

Like many people, I'm keen for restrictions to be lifted once and for all. Now that I'm busy socializing in a way I haven't done for years it's irritating that we're limited to six people at a table or thirty people outdoors. It's upsetting that the students I work with are still having to suffer because of restrictions- public health have advised schools not to hold transition sessions this year, something that is vitally important for the students with autism that I work with as they move to new classes. I still understand that these restrictions are in place for a reason but the longer they exist the more frustrated I become by them. It feels oppressive to be constantly told you can't do perfectly normal things. 

I'm less bothered about travelling abroad but that seems to be the main thing some people complain about. Perhaps it's because I've really only had one holiday as an adult and because holidays abroad were fairly unusual as a child but I don't feel the necessity or going abroad. The UK is full of stunning places to visit. I think that if you really want to go abroad you have to accept that there's a good chance circumstances may change and the holiday may be cancelled or you might have to quarantine. This is one area which I feel isn't really the government's fault, they just react on case numbers on different countries. I admire the way they attempt to bolster the number of countries on the green list by including places like the "British Antarctic Territory". It's bizarre that a place inhabited mostly by penguins wasn't on the green list as soon as the system was introduced. 

If we're lucky 'Freedom Day', as the media have dubbed it, might finally happen in a few weeks time though I'm trying not to be too optimistic about it. Either way, I will continue to follow the rules even if those setting them struggle to do the same.