The UK government can’t learn from its Covid mistakes as it is unable to admit it has made them
It was more a question of do as I say, not as I do. “We must be humble,” said Matt Hancock. Not something that comes naturally to Matt, despite him having a lot to be humble about. “We must look at the evidence.” Only it turned out that the health secretary was quite selective about which parts of the evidence he wanted to look at.
Door Matt’s latest statement to the Commons on the Covid-19 pandemic was meant to be a triumphal drive-by. The day that England could celebrate reaching the third stage of its four-part roadmap to freedom. The day when people could meet indoors and hug one another. When they could eat and drink inside pubs and restaurants. Instead, Hancock was urging caution. Proof of double vaccination was probably in order for any kind of physical contact and only then with masks. And it was still better to sit outside and get soaked rather than meet up indoors.
