Health secretary makes the most of his press conference, knowing more bad news is likely to be just round the corner
For months now, Matt Hancock has looked a beaten man every time he is forced to front a Downing Street coronavirus press conference – someone who knows the government has made a series of catastrophic mistakes in its handling of the pandemic and is fairly sure he is liable to be made the scapegoat when the reckoning comes.
But on Monday, the health secretary was almost back to his pre-Covid self. Maybe not the full-on Tigger but a long way from the Door Matt he has become over the last half year. The change was subtle but it was noticeable – particularly in his use of language. Out had gone the continuous, monotone defeatism and back had come the occasional drift into the upbeat patter of a junior account manager at a PR agency. He and the UK were “powering ahead” together.
