Matt Hancock is really struggling to get his words out today!

[Teddypops]

Gosh he is struggling. Forgot the name of one of the advisers.

I’d like a national government. Cut out the politics and get the best brains from every party on it.
This

Sabine - when Vallance says people have Covid 19 listed on their death certificate when they’re not being tested, and then says “it’s really important to understand the difference “ I can only guess that he means “ we don’t know”.

We also don’t know what % of the population had it, have it, carry it.

I’ve no desire to screw up so much for things we don’t know. That’s just me. Rumours are it might be the Chancellor as well at one point, it was Boris Johnson. You do you, obvs. I’m much happier with constructive chat but we’re all in the dark about figures. Hence the press conference becomes more pointless by the day.

Depends where you stand .As a community care worker i am angry about the ppe fiasco and the way our elderly in care homes are being thrown to the wolves .Govt sent ppe aboard just couldn't make it up .So nope ask any carer think you will find none of them have any respect for anything he says .

Just seen a few mins from it again. I think we are seeing the effects of extreme sleep deprivation.

And you trust this government with a vaccine that’s been rushed through! I won’t be going anywhere near it or any of my family.

Matt Hancock seems to me to be a man doing his best. I think mistakes have been made but I doubt the situation would be any better, and could well be worse, if Sunak were the health secretary or PM. I will never be a conservative voter, but I doubt any other party would have done much differently. I hope we learn from this rather than scapegoat individuals who just did their best, even if I don’t agree with decisions that were made.

@Haffiana where have you seen proof that that deal has delivered ppe as I read opposite and France etc were short of ppe . Do you have a source confirming this has been delivered ??

I don’t trust the government but I most certainly trust scientists like Sarah Gilbert. I’d be happy to have the vaccine, the sooner the better.

Seen clips. I think he’s knackered but also that figures on care home deaths may be coming in now and they are worse than expected. That is just conjecture though and only based on thinking I heard someone at briefing the other day say they would know later in the week.

Poor thing, it was agonising to watch.

The journalists are not getting the mood of the country at all. It's not the run up to a General Election, it's a national emergency and we all want our country to be ok.

I'm sick of Kuenssberg et al having a go at them. They're trying their absolute hardest in a situation no one, not even Corbyn (!) could have predicted. (And thank FUCK we don't have that shower in charge).

I feel sorry for him, he didn't have time to properly recover after his illness, and now he's the fall guy. I think he is very committed to getting as much done as he can, but right now no one could cope better than him. He looked exhausted today, done in. I didn't realise he was dyslexic, that could explain him struggling a bit, I work with dyslexic students and how they have to adapt to do what we think of as the norm is really admirable.

The vacuum left from Boris being recouperating must make it especially difficult.

The vacuum is of his own making. Johnson likes to have his ego massaged, and chose to give Cabinet posts to sycophants and toadies, who are mostly not up to the job.

I'm fed up with Peston never being ready or having the sound on! Then he asks a question that was asked previously...

I am sick of Kuenssberg, full stop.

Are we really reduced to criticising the journalists who are, quite rightly, holding this government to account on our behalf?

Some of the journalists are doing better jobs than others. Some of the later questions were more useful and informative than the repetitive ones asked at the start.

MH seemed exhausted. I lose my words when I'm tired. I referred to DS2 as the "small one" yesterday, and that was just from one morning of home schooling, not attempting to get through a political shitstorm while struggling to recover from a nasty virus that's been killing thousands.

There is no magic PPE tree. The whole bloody planet is after the stuff wanting millions of items too. That's the problem with a pandemic.

The way MH stumbled over the question about the PPE procurement scheme made me immediately think that he did say "Yes' but was overruled. It's a travesty if it was a political decision.
I think Matt Hancock is the best of a bad bunch but he looks on the point of exhaustion

Struggling to get words out can be a challenge if you don't know what you're talking about.

Do I think he's trying. Yes. Do I think trying is enough and he's competent. Not by a long stretch.

So what would be enough then?

And you trust this government with a vaccine that’s been rushed through! I won’t be going anywhere near it or any of my family.

Don't worry, I don't think Hancock and Boris are googling 'how to make a vaccine'.

OP that is exactly what my husband said. If he hadn't already had the virus I would have wondered if he was coming down with it. Actually I think he was nervous about remembering what he had been told to say in response to the questions about PPE.

The Cabinet needs a fall guy, and Hancock is the designated scapegoat.

PineappleDanish Rishi Sunak yes but I would never call Dominic Raab polished he always looks like a tailor's dummy to me. Very stiff and just reading his linesand not really understanding what he is saying.

I'm still frustrated by the fact that everybody is being held responsible for lack of PPE in care homes other than the home owners. These homes are largely private, charge huge fees (often from the state) and the owners are often handsomely rewarded yet the staff are on minimum wage and the taxpayer should be supplying and funding their PPE?
A home local to me has been posting FB thanks today to local businesses who donated supplies for their staff yet their latest accounts show assets of almost £15million and the directors were paid £600k. I know PPE is in short supply but, surely, they should be contributing to something?

Calm agree. Care home profits are huge.