Disgraced former Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested that “more stringent” lockdown measures should have been imposed during the Chinese coronavirus crisis.
Appearing before a public inquiry into the British government’s handling of the Chinese coronavirus, the head of the response to Covid-19, Matt Hancock, admitted that the government’s strategy was “completely wrong”.
However, rather than admitting the failures of the Communist Chinese-inspired strategy of locking down the country, the ex-health secretary suggested that the government should have imposed more draconian restrictions and instituted them quicker.
“It is central to what we must learn as a country that we’ve got to be ready to hit a pandemic hard: that we’ve got to be able to take action – lockdown action if necessary, that is wider, earlier, more stringent than feels comfortable at the time,” Hancock told the inquiry according to The Guardian.
Despite arguing that lockdowns should still be a central component of future pandemic planning, Hancock claimed that he understands “deeply the consequences of lockdown and the negative consequences for many, many people – many of which persist to this day.”
The former lockdown boss also blamed the government’s pandemic preparedness strategy, which he claimed was based on a flu outbreak rather than a coronavirus crisis. Yet, the main failing of the strategy, Hancock said, was that the government was more concerned with the aftermath of the virus rather than on prevention.
“Can we buy enough body bags? Where are we going to bury the dead? And that was completely wrong,” he said.
“Of course, it’s important to have that in case you fail to stop a pandemic, but central to pandemic planning needs to be – how do you stop the disaster from happening in the first place? How do you suppress the virus?”
Ironically, Mr Hancock was forced to resign from his position as health secretary in 2021 after it was revealed that he had broken the very same lockdown restrictions he imposed upon the public by having a romantic affair with one of his staffers.
Although he was caught dead to rights on film violating the lockdown rules, and indeed his marriage vows, London’s Metropolitan Police decided that they would not investigate Hancock, stating at the time: “As a matter of course the [police force] is not investigating Covid related issues retrospectively.”
This standard from the police was not kept, however, for investigations into former Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the so-called partygate scandals, in which government officials were caught partying in Downing Street while the rest of the country was locked down.
In another display of hypocrisy, a series of thousands of Hancock’s WhatsApp messages — given to the press by Hancock himself — showed that the former health secretary apparently used his government post to try to influence the police to go harder after those who broke lockdown rules.
Hancock was revealed to have argued in August of 2020 that the government should “get heavy with police” in response to the public trying to enjoy the outdoors during the summer months when the coronavirus naturally waned.
The messages also revealed that he took part in discussions seeking the possible imprisonment of Brexit leader Nigel Farage for posting a picture of himself in a pub after returning to Britain from the United States, where he attended a Donald Trump rally.
Responding to Hancock’s appearance before the inquiry on Monday, Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox said: “They have learned nothing. Earlier, Harder and harsher lockdowns would have helped?”
“This is about as legitimate as the North Koreans holding an enquiry into human rights violations,” Fox added.
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