A Half-Baked Apology Won't Bring Hancock Forgiveness

You don’t really need to see Matt Hancock answering questions on why the UK wasn’t better prepared for a pandemic to know the answer

- TOM PECK

The answer is right there: it’s Matt Hancock. If the question "Why did everything go so badly wrong?" either begins or ends with "Hancock", then you already have the answer.

The very much former health secretary was taking the first of his many turns before the Covid inquiry yesterday morning. And you also won't be shocked to learn that Mr Hancock's answer was not that it was all his fault. Quite the opposite. What had actually happened, on this little planet of ours, between the years 2020 and 2022, was that the world had just not managed to live up to Matt Hancock's high standards. And for that - and only that Matt Hancock was truly sorry.

"I am profoundly sorry for each death," he said, turning as he did so to address the bereaved victims in the public seats. "I understand why, for some, it will be hard to take that apology from me - I understand that. I get it. But it is honest and heartfelt." It might have been heartfelt, but it certainly wasn't honest. He was very sorry indeed, but also, you know, it really wasn't his fault. The failures in his department were, in fact, "global". They were more than global, they were "doctrinal".