Business secretary almost made it through unscathed until he was reminded of Brexit disruption to vaccine supply chain
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. When the UK has become the first European country to record more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths and the entire staff inside No 10 is squabbling over who gets to have the prime minister’s ear by becoming his chief of staff, the last thing the government wanted was another inconvenient Downing Street press briefing. But one had been promised and one must be delivered. And in such tricky circumstances there was clearly only one minister suitable for the job. Step forward Alok Sharma.
Not even the business secretary is entirely sure how he came to be business secretary. He doesn’t even seem to have much interest in politics, let alone business. Rather it was a case of one thing leading to another. He had seen which way the wind was blowing in the Tory leadership contest, had declared himself a huge fan of Boris Johnson, despite never having knowingly declared any great enthusiasm for Brexit, and was rewarded – to his and everyone else’s surprise – with a place in the cabinet.
