Science minister makes schoolboy error of giving honest answer on unknown threat of Omicron
Spare a thought for George Freeman. For reasons best known to himself, the decent if decidedly forgettable Tory MP had been desperate to return to Boris Johnson’s ministerial team after being sacked from a minor position in the transport department in February last year. He had even been overheard talking nonsense about the prime minister’s integrity and competence that everyone knew he didn’t believe for a second.
And his desperation paid off in September, when Johnson made him parliamentary undersecretary of state for science, research and innovation. Some might have thought an appointment to one of the most junior roles in the business department as, at best, a damning with faint praise and at worst a snub for an MP whose own assessment of his capabilities was out of line with that of his boss. But beggars can’t be choosers, so Freeman happily accepted what was on offer and since then has applied himself to his job unnoticed by everyone. Including himself.
