To think that Matt Hancock is not looking very well

[insomniasucks]

Just that really. It must be so hard being the Health Secretary during this difficult time. I feel so sorry for him.

He looks like he’s thinking ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ every time he has to answer a question. He’s realised he’s going to be the fall guy for this bunch of charlatans and he hasn’t a clue how to get out of it.

I know what was wrong with her tone - it was female.

No fucking way would he have told man to mind his tone.

Thanks OP.

If a Cabinet member doesn’t realise they might be involved in a global catastrophe, they’re not fit for the role. Neither is Johnson tbh.

Rory Stewart’s said he’s no longer campaigning to be
London .mayor. I strongly suspect it’s because he’s realised it’s an actual job, with a chance of serious problems.

I also sense he was initially very pleased to suddenly be more important than he anticipated.

You shouldn't worry OP I'm sure he won't suffer or be held accountable for anything he's done (or not done). When it's all over, he'll stroll away whistling without a care in the world.

Don't forget the mantra they have all been spouting
'We will be led by the science'
Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance will be carrying the can.

I’d just love to see some of you pompous, opinionated, posters managing this crisis.

“ I’d just love to see some of you pompous, opinionated, posters managing this crisis.”

What, those of who have never gone for big jobs because we know we don’t have the required skills?

Can't stand the guy, but he seems to be the only one showing any signs of personal strain, knowing full well that he will not escape blame. He's going to be first under the bus.

Why? He put in an awful lot of brown-nosing and sucking up both to May and Johnson to get himself into this position. It's reasonable to assume that he's got exactly what he wants. If he can't live up to it, that's not something we need to be sorry for him about.

I expect he’s a tad uncomfortable because his pants are on fire.

I’d just love to see some of you pompous, opinionated, posters managing this crisis.

I take it, @Sertchgi123, that you would never ever question, say, a blatantly negligent doctor, dentist, builder, lawyer etc on the basis that you couldn't their jobs any better?

No-one on this thread is asserting that they could do it better. In effect, they are saying that other qualified people could, and when you look around the world that is undoubtedly the case. It isn't entirely Hancock's fault - Johnson certainly is even more responsible for the current situation - but when you put yourself in the public eye, you give people the right to judge how you are performing the job they are paying you to do.

Apparently he hoped to get a different brief in the reshuffle but was left in place. He is awful but then the whole cabinet is awful and Bozo is a disgrace

Quite so JudyCoolibar - he could have been like Sajiv Javid and refused to accept a Cabinet post.

Johnson didn't carry out his reshuffle until 13th February but Wuhan went into lockdown three weeks before that, so he could have been mindful that it could come our way.

I've no sympathy with the Tory scum.

They had the Cygnus investigation a few years ago to see how the NHS and other care facilities would cope in the event of a sudden pandemic.
The independent body examining all the data advised the government that systems in place were woefully inadequate and that serious action / investment was needed. A lack of available PPE was even highlighted.
The Tories in their quest to drive through austerity and cut expenditure took no action.

It's all very well saying this crisis was sudden and unexpected but the reality is the government knew systems in place were inadequate.

The Tories aren't called the 'Nasty Party' for nothing. - I'd jail the lot of them.

Why has Johnson got such a talentless Cabinet? In part because he kicked out the Tories who had integrity before the election, so they didn't bother to stand again. Now he's chosen to promote mediocrities who will massage his ego. Well, tough!

No one party is to blame. Our current government has been utterly negligent and incompetent.

But the longer-term issues with the NHS are down to Labour as well as the Conservatives. The NHS has been underfunded and badly mismanaged for years.

Yes austerity has been devastating. But so has the PFI debt left by the Blair and Brown governments.

We can't go back but we can do something now to start to mitigate the damage. A very good starting point would be to - finally - get some more PPE for staff. And start treating patients (early, when chances of survival are more likely).

They all just sound so inexperienced, immature and completely out of their depth. There’s not a statesman among them.

I find it’s even worse when I just listen to them on the radio without the visuals. All those slogans are just like a shield they’re hiding behind. They don’t seem to actually say anything of substance.

I’m fully expecting Hancock to flip out on the Today programme and totally lose it.

I'd love to know how some of you lot would have coped had you been flung unexpectedly into a global catastrophe that nobody on the planet has ever had to deal with before; and be expected to know exactly what to do

Well on a personal level, as soon as the virus was being reported on, and I saw the devastation it was causing in China, I started preparing.

It wasn’t like the other SARS viruses, it seemed much more transmissible. When I saw them build a hospital from scratch in days I knew it was serious. It was eventually going to end up everywhere. So I started prepping, a couple of alcohol hand sanitizers extra each shop, paracetamol, tampax, etc.

I’m not elected, but I think if I was Matt Hancock I’d have started looking at PPE, testing facilities, NHS capacity, etc, around mid January - the same time I started prepping. I would see what the NHS is capable of providing and expand existing facilities. I would not start over, bypass the NHS labs and get private companies involved in testing when they have never done it before.

Matt Hancock may well be one of the ones still pushing for lockdown, but he’s still complicit. If I were him, this minute, I’d resign. I’d admit my failings and then the failings of the whole government. But I’m not him, i’m just someone who still has enough hand sanitizer and flour for my family.

I don't have an issue with him. And no I don't think he looks well. I wouldn't want to be doing his job right now 🤷‍♂️

Oh yes, the Labour lot would do better! What with their posh, Oxford educated, barrister, Surrey born leader! How does that make the Labour any more qualified?

Why has Johnson got such a talentless Cabinet? In part because he kicked out the Tories who had integrity before the election, so they didn't bother to stand again.

How true. When you compare the current lot with the likes of Rudd, Hammond and Hunt, they really don't come well out of the exercise. And it's not as if those three were political giants, either.

Remind us how long Blair and Brown have been out of office? If the Tories had wanted to do something about PFI for example, they have had the time to sort it out.

Like the rest of the Cabinet, he is horrified to have to deal with a huge crisis like this when he thought the only thing he'd have to do is sit back and bask in the reflected glory of Boris Getting Brexit Done.

Of course it was not an expected event (although pandemics are things that governments are supposed to be prepared for!) but it might have been handled better if any members of the Cabinet had been chosen for their ability to actually manage the Briefs they were given. Instead they were chosen because a)they would support Brexit and b) they would not overshadow Boris. The only member of the Cabinet who I think has even an ounce of competency is Gove provided you keep him away from Education and they keep him hidden away because most of the public can't stand him.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/05/matt-hancocks-career-continues-to-win-the-battle-with-his-conscience

Is everyone familiar with this horrifying footage of Hancock talking to some poor unsuspecting Tory candidate before the last election?
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