When the PM speaks belief ebbs away, so he left Matt Hancock to handle tiers in the Commons
Some people get all the crap jobs. Even though Boris Johnson was out of isolation and in the chamber, it was left to Matt Hancock to make the statement on which coronavirus tier every English region would be dumped into once the national lockdown ended next Wednesday. And knowing that only Cornwall, the Scilly Isles and the Isle of Wight – about 1% of the population – had managed to remain in the lowest tier, the health secretary knew he was in for a rough time from many of his own grumpy MPs. The majority of the country, 57%, was to be in tier two, and 42%, predominantly in the north and midlands, would be in tier 3.
Hancock began on autopilot, repeating many of the familiar tropes he has used in previous statements about thanking the country for the sacrifices it had made and asking for another push to help see the NHS through January and February. At which point his logic began to fall apart. Because if you’re trying to reduce infections during the winter months, why on earth would you grant a five-day amnesty over Christmas? It was like turning the festive period into a Killing Zone.
