Matt Hancock was cowering in the spotlight, his skin as soggy as a wet wipe: HENRY DEEDES watches the rattled Health Secretary get mauled at No. 10
HENRY DEEDES: Battered, bruised, not to say a little bit dazed, Matt Hancock somehow made it through the latest Downing Street press conference. But, oh boy, was it a close run thing.
What the **** has happened, Boris Johnson roared after learning of care home crisis
When the Prime Minister returned to Downing Street on April 12, 2020 after seven nights in hospital with coronavirus, one of the first things he asked, according to Dominic Cummings, was: “What on earth has happened with all these people in care homes?”
Revealed: The letter Carrie Symonds wanted to send to The Times objecting to story about Dilyn the dog - but Boris blocked it after saying: 'I can't sign this - it's nonsense''
SIMON WALTERS: Boris Johnson refused to back fiancee Carrie Symonds' (L) complaint to The Times after it claimed the couple 'callously' wanted to get rid of their pet dog Dilyn. He objected on the basis that the proposed complaint, drawn up at the start of the Covid crisis, was 'a nonsense'. A copy of the draft letter was leaked to the Daily Mail after Dominic Cummings told MPs on Wednesday that Miss Symonds went 'completely crackers' over a report claiming the couple hated Dilyn.
I said way back in one post last year, that I felt Matt Hancock was being set up as the fall guy for any failings of Government policy over the pandemic and now it would appear the bus is rumbling down the road and people are lining up behind him to throw him underneath it.
I have many reservations about heaping all the blame onto a very inexperienced Minister who was almost certainly under orders from his boss and the bosses advisors, and that would include Dominic Cummings, the Agent Provocateur.
Yes criticism is certainly justified but it would appear that some would have us believe, that Hancock ran around deliberately spreading the virus throughout the Care Homes personally.
This was an unprecedented pandemic over which even the worlds eminent virologists could not agree and yet because Government didn't know how to handle the Care Home situation for the best it is suddenly Matt Hancock's fault.
These remember are mostly privately run facilities that charge astronomical fees and generate huge profits whilst employing minimum wage carers who have almost no training, frequently have English as their second language and who often work double shifts due to staff absences. One of my Daughters and my Daughter in Law have worked at care homes in Stoke on Trent and both quit due to the attitude of those managing the facilities with regard to profit before patient welfare.
So I would ask what provisions for a pandemic did these homes have in place, surely as a responsible licensed care provider, they would have an emergency set of protocols for any pandemic (flu, Legionaires, MRSA etc). The failing of these facilities to implement emergency measures are theirs and not Governments.
Perhaps the failings of these care providers should be scrutinised and questioned before hoisting the sacrificial lamb to the altar.
Did he make mistakes, yes of course he did, he also made claims and statements that later had to be amended. that however was the nature of dealing with the unknown and its something that all Ministers involved did to a greater or lesser degree.
The 2 biggest mistakes I feel were, we locked down too late and emerged too early and we didn't seal our borders. The non sealing of the borders is a mistake Boris has continued to make, hence the appearance of the Indian Variant.
Yes Matt Hancock has made mistakes but to scrutinise these when others are more culpable is in my opinion malicious and vindictive, especially when you consider where the ammunition is coming from.
I said way back in one post last year, that I felt Matt Hancock was being set up as the fall guy for any failings of Government policy over the pandemic and now it would appear the bus is rumbling down the road and people are lining up behind him to throw him underneath it.
I have many reservations about heaping all the blame onto a very inexperienced Minister who was almost certainly under orders from his boss and the bosses advisors, and that would include Dominic Cummings, the Agent Provocateur.
Yes criticism is certainly justified but it would appear that some would have us believe, that Hancock ran around deliberately spreading the virus throughout the Care Homes personally.
This was an unprecedented pandemic over which even the worlds eminent virologists could not agree and yet because Government didn't know how to handle the Care Home situation for the best it is suddenly Matt Hancock's fault.
These remember are mostly privately run facilities that charge astronomical fees and generate huge profits whilst employing minimum wage carers who have almost no training, frequently have English as their second language and who often work double shifts due to staff absences. One of my Daughters and my Daughter in Law have worked at care homes in Stoke on Trent and both quit due to the attitude of those managing the facilities with regard to profit before patient welfare.
So I would ask what provisions for a pandemic did these homes have in place, surely as a responsible licensed care provider, they would have an emergency set of protocols for any pandemic (flu, Legionaires, MRSA etc). The failing of these facilities to implement emergency measures are theirs and not Governments.
Perhaps the failings of these care providers should be scrutinised and questioned before hoisting the sacrificial lamb to the altar.
Did he make mistakes, yes of course he did, he also made claims and statements that later had to be amended. that however was the nature of dealing with the unknown and its something that all Ministers involved did to a greater or lesser degree.
The 2 biggest mistakes I feel were, we locked down too late and emerged too early and we didn't seal our borders. The non sealing of the borders is a mistake Boris has continued to make, hence the appearance of the Indian Variant.
Yes Matt Hancock has made mistakes but to scrutinise these when others are more culpable is in my opinion malicious and vindictive, especially when you consider where the ammunition is coming from.
I dont know if you saw much of his evidence, but the most serious failings were, A lack of preparedness for a pandemic. An organisation that is clearly not fit for purpose. PPE. The Care Home scandal. Consistently locking down too late. No border policy.
Some of the stuff would have been humorous if it wasnt so serious, like A suggestion from the Cabinet Secretary that we could have chicken pox parties to speed up herd immunity. Boris suggesting that Chris Witty should inject him with covid on TV to show that it wasnt that serious.
He claimed that Hancock lied to Boris over the care homes. Boris claimed early on that it was a scare story, missed the first 5 COBRA meetings, went on holiday in February, and didnt take it seriously
What he said about the lockdowns was interesting. Everyone else except Boris knew the first lockdown should have happened earlier, but he had an excuse because they were behind on the data, and therefore didnt have the data to prove the case. In September, all the data showed that we needed to lock down, yet Boris stalled until November.
Boris Johnson 'cut Matt Hancock out of No.10 meetings after the Covid care home fiasco' - and pair's relationship became 'really bad' as death toll soared, says source
The UK Prime Minister's doubts were said to have grown after hospital patients were sent to care homes without first being tested for Covid in the early weeks of the pandemic.
What REALLY happened inside No10 when the care homes crisis blew up? How Hancock's claims about scaling up Covid tests square with Cummings' allegation that the 'protective ring was nonsense'
Testing all patients on discharge did not become official policy until mid-April, by which time more than 1,600 care home residents had died and Covid had been in Britain for two-and-a-half months.
Boris Johnson behaved 'unwisely' by letting Wallpaper-gate go ahead without checking who was paying for it but is CLEARED of breaching ministerial code, investigation finds
Boris Johnson behaved 'unwisely' in allowing the lavish makeover of his flat to go ahead without checking who was footing the bill, an investigation found last night.
Matt Hancock gets a slap on wrist from watchdog for 'minor' breach of Ministerial Code by failing to declare he owned shares in family firm which won NHS contracts
The Health Secretary was accused of cronyism after it he revealed in March he had a 20 per cent stake in Topwood Ltd, which is run by his sister and brother-in-law.
The public don't trust Dominic Cummings: Vaccines rollout sees Boris Johnson ride high in Mail poll.... but voters back call to axe Matt Hancock
Most Britons think Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's former senior Downing Street aide, wanted revenge on his Tory foes rather than to establish the facts. And they are prepared to forgive the Prime Minister for errors made at the start of the crisis because of the huge success of the vaccine programme. But despite the low regard for Mr Cummings, there is support for some of his most controversial views. The public agrees Health Secretary Matt Hancock should be fired and - narrowly - that Mr Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds has too much power. These are among the findings of the first major survey conducted since Mr Cummings' blistering attacks on Mr Johnson and Mr Hancock this week.
Robert Peston exposes bombshell documents - alarm bells in No10 as showdown exposed
According to the ITV journalist, Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister held a meeting last May amid fears the Secretary of State had misled the pair. Although the Prime Minister has issued his support to the Health Secretary, Mr Cummings allegedly has documents showing meetings at Downing Street on May 3 and May 4. The documents allegedly support Mr Cummings' claims the Health Secretary had misled No10 on testing patients before discharge into care homes and also about further testing of residents and staff in care homes.
Indeed, a Downing Street source claimed Mr Hancock's negligence had killed people in care homes.
Mr Peston wrote in his column: "I understand Cummings has documentary evidence that as late as May last year he and the PM feared they had been misled by Hancock about how he would protect the elderly in care homes, and that he was guilty of 'negligence'.
Boris Johnson's 'F-word rant' at Matt Hancock as bombshell papers show care home failure
In big tech’s dystopia, cat videos earn millions while real artists beg for tips Stars In Their Eyes returns in 2021 – with a twist…
Boris Johnson is said to have blasted Matt Hancock in a sweary rant last year after thousands of elderly residents were sent to care homes without a Covid test.
The Prime Minister flew into a rage at his Health Secretary and shouted “what a f***ing mess” as the scale of the crisis became clear, The Sun on Sunday reported.
Another source told the Sunday Times the PM “blew his stack” in the meeting on May 4, whose existence was revealed by former aide Dominic Cummings.
"Hancock had promised him in March that he would solve the problem," the source said. "He was absolutely furious and wanted to know why the situation in care homes had become such a f***ing mess."
Meanwhile, the Guardian says it has been told by some of the UK's biggest care home operators that - during the first wave of Covid in 2020 - they repeatedly warned the Department of Health, about the risk of not testing people discharged from hospitals into care homes.
The paper suggests the findings will "increase pressure" on the Health Secretary Matt Hancock - who is due to be questioned by MPs today.
"Nuclear Dom" is the headline in the Metro, which says the PM's former chief adviser published "explosive" WhatsApp messages between him and Boris Johnson from the start of the pandemic.
The latest twist in the war of words between Dominic Cummings and Health Secretary Matt Hancock features on many of the front pages. "Hopeless" is the headline in the Daily Mirror, reporting Boris Johnson's apparent description of Mr Hancock. The Mirror asks: "15 months and 128,000 deaths after PM's damning verdict on his health secretary... how come he's still in a job?"
The Guardian says Mr Cummings made the new revelations in a 7,000 word essay where he mocked the PM, claiming Mr Johnson intended to leave office after the next election to "have fun and make money".
Many of Thursday's papers focus on Dominic Cummings' release of text messages from Boris Johnson criticising Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The Metro calls the former Downing Street adviser's blog-post a "nuclear Dom", while the Guardian quotes a former colleague of Mr Cummings, saying that he is "determined to bring down the prime minister" and intent on carrying out a sustained campaign to highlight high-level incompetence.
The Daily Mirror asks why Mr Hancock still has a job given the criticism and the large numbers of deaths during the pandemic. The Daily Star takes an irreverent view, summing up the affair as "hopeless bloke said hopeless bloke was hopeless, says hopeless bloke",
The Times, meanwhile, claims Mr Hancock is set to be cleared over previous claims from Mr Cummings that he repeatedly lied to the prime minister.
Boris said 'being PM is too much hard work and like pulling a jumbo jet down a runway every day' and he 'can't wait to have fun and make money'
SIMON WALTERS: Boris Johnson could step down as Prime Minister in four years, it was claimed yesterday - and he says running the country is 'like pulling a jumbo jet down the runway every day'. The suggestion that Mr Johnson has already planned his Downing Street exit was made by Dominic Cummings in his latest blog attacking the Prime Minister. Mr Johnson's former chief adviser said he does not want to 'go on and on' in power, quoting the phrase used by Margaret Thatcher who served 11 years in No 10. Pictured: Dominic Cummings (right), Boris Johnson (left) and some more 'Boris-isms' (inset).
Hancock is hopeless, Boris wants to quit and the Cabinet Office is a s***show: Read Dominic Cummings' 7,000-word diatribe against his former colleagues in full
Dominic Cummings today alleged that Boris Johnson wants to leave Downing Street to 'make money and have fun', branded Matt Hancock 'f***ing hopeless' and said that PPE was a 'disaster'
'More to come': Dominic Cummings vows to release ANOTHER batch of revelations about 'f***ing hopeless' Matt Hancock after humiliated Health Secretary said he 'doesn't think' he's incompetent in toe-curling clip
Dominic Cummings yesterday posted a 7,000-word diatribe alleging a series of failures during his time as a top advisor, claiming Boris Johnson has a 'clear plan' to quit Number 10 by 2026 because he wants to 'make money and have fun'. The Vote Leave maverick has taken particular aim at Matt Hancock, who was said to have been branded 'f***ing hopeless' by the Prime Minister. In a Twitter thread that is now a whopping 92 posts long, Mr Cummings wrote: 'Hancock claimed to MPs a/ 'no PPE shortage', b/ 'everybody got treatment they needed'; c/ he was a heroic success on testing, d/ HMT hampered him on procurement, e/ 'protective ring around care homes'. His claims = false. Evidence here, more to come...' But despite claims the PM held his Health Secretary in such low regard, Mr Hancock is set to be exonerated over allegations he lied to Mr Johnson, reports claim. Images published yesterday by Mr Cummings reveal that the Prime Minister considered stripping Mr Hancock of responsibility for the procurement of PPE supplies for the NHS, handing over responsibility to Michael Gove instead
Comments
HENRY DEEDES: Battered, bruised, not to say a little bit dazed, Matt Hancock somehow made it through the latest Downing Street press conference. But, oh boy, was it a close run thing.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9627279/HENRY-DEEDES-watches-rattled-Health-Secretary-mauled-No-10.html
When the Prime Minister returned to Downing Street on April 12, 2020 after seven nights in hospital with coronavirus, one of the first things he asked, according to Dominic Cummings, was: “What on earth has happened with all these people in care homes?”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/what-the-****-has-happened-boris-johnson-roared-after-learning-of-care-home-crisis/ar-AAKss7l?ocid=msedgntp
I have many reservations about heaping all the blame onto a very inexperienced Minister who was almost certainly under orders from his boss and the bosses advisors, and that would include Dominic Cummings, the Agent Provocateur.
Yes criticism is certainly justified but it would appear that some would have us believe, that Hancock ran around deliberately spreading the virus throughout the Care Homes personally.
This was an unprecedented pandemic over which even the worlds eminent virologists could not agree and yet because Government didn't know how to handle the Care Home situation for the best it is suddenly Matt Hancock's fault.
These remember are mostly privately run facilities that charge astronomical fees and generate huge profits whilst employing minimum wage carers who have almost no training, frequently have English as their second language and who often work double shifts due to staff absences. One of my Daughters and my Daughter in Law have worked at care homes in Stoke on Trent and both quit due to the attitude of those managing the facilities with regard to profit before patient welfare.
So I would ask what provisions for a pandemic did these homes have in place, surely as a responsible licensed care provider, they would have an emergency set of protocols for any pandemic (flu, Legionaires, MRSA etc). The failing of these facilities to implement emergency measures are theirs and not Governments.
Perhaps the failings of these care providers should be scrutinised and questioned before hoisting the sacrificial lamb to the altar.
Did he make mistakes, yes of course he did, he also made claims and statements that later had to be amended. that however was the nature of dealing with the unknown and its something that all Ministers involved did to a greater or lesser degree.
The 2 biggest mistakes I feel were, we locked down too late and emerged too early and we didn't seal our borders. The non sealing of the borders is a mistake Boris has continued to make, hence the appearance of the Indian Variant.
Yes Matt Hancock has made mistakes but to scrutinise these when others are more culpable is in my opinion malicious and vindictive, especially when you consider where the ammunition is coming from.
A lack of preparedness for a pandemic.
An organisation that is clearly not fit for purpose.
PPE.
The Care Home scandal.
Consistently locking down too late.
No border policy.
Some of the stuff would have been humorous if it wasnt so serious, like
A suggestion from the Cabinet Secretary that we could have chicken pox parties to speed up herd immunity.
Boris suggesting that Chris Witty should inject him with covid on TV to show that it wasnt that serious.
He claimed that Hancock lied to Boris over the care homes.
Boris claimed early on that it was a scare story, missed the first 5 COBRA meetings, went on holiday in February, and didnt take it seriously
What he said about the lockdowns was interesting.
Everyone else except Boris knew the first lockdown should have happened earlier, but he had an excuse because they were behind on the data, and therefore didnt have the data to prove the case.
In September, all the data showed that we needed to lock down, yet Boris stalled until November.
The UK Prime Minister's doubts were said to have grown after hospital patients were sent to care homes without first being tested for Covid in the early weeks of the pandemic.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9631053/Boris-Johnson-cut-Matt-Hancock-No-10-meetings-Covid-care-home-fiasco.html
What REALLY happened inside No10 when the care homes crisis blew up? How Hancock's claims about scaling up Covid tests square with Cummings' allegation that the 'protective ring was nonsense'
Testing all patients on discharge did not become official policy until mid-April, by which time more than 1,600 care home residents had died and Covid had been in Britain for two-and-a-half months.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9628941/Coronavirus-Matt-Hancocks-Dominic-Cummingss-claims-care-home-testing-compare.html
Boris Johnson behaved 'unwisely' by letting Wallpaper-gate go ahead without checking who was paying for it but is CLEARED of breaching ministerial code, investigation finds
Boris Johnson behaved 'unwisely' in allowing the lavish makeover of his flat to go ahead without checking who was footing the bill, an investigation found last night.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9631061/PM-behaved-unwisely-letting-Wallpaper-gate-ahead-without-checking-paying-it.html
Matt Hancock gets a slap on wrist from watchdog for 'minor' breach of Ministerial Code by failing to declare he owned shares in family firm which won NHS contracts
The Health Secretary was accused of cronyism after it he revealed in March he had a 20 per cent stake in Topwood Ltd, which is run by his sister and brother-in-law.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9629979/Matt-Hancock-let-minor-breach-Ministerial-Code-shares-firm-won-NHS-work.html
Most Britons think Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's former senior Downing Street aide, wanted revenge on his Tory foes rather than to establish the facts. And they are prepared to forgive the Prime Minister for errors made at the start of the crisis because of the huge success of the vaccine programme. But despite the low regard for Mr Cummings, there is support for some of his most controversial views. The public agrees Health Secretary Matt Hancock should be fired and - narrowly - that Mr Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds has too much power. These are among the findings of the first major survey conducted since Mr Cummings' blistering attacks on Mr Johnson and Mr Hancock this week.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9631013/Dominic-Cummings-trusted-according-Mail-poll.html
According to the ITV journalist, Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister held a meeting last May amid fears the Secretary of State had misled the pair. Although the Prime Minister has issued his support to the Health Secretary, Mr Cummings allegedly has documents showing meetings at Downing Street on May 3 and May 4. The documents allegedly support Mr Cummings' claims the Health Secretary had misled No10 on testing patients before discharge into care homes and also about further testing of residents and staff in care homes.
Indeed, a Downing Street source claimed Mr Hancock's negligence had killed people in care homes.
Mr Peston wrote in his column: "I understand Cummings has documentary evidence that as late as May last year he and the PM feared they had been misled by Hancock about how he would protect the elderly in care homes, and that he was guilty of 'negligence'.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/politics/robert-peston-exposes-bombshell-documents-alarm-bells-in-no10-as-showdown-exposed/ar-AAKtw7a?ocid=msedgntp
In big tech’s dystopia, cat videos earn millions while real artists beg for tips
Stars In Their Eyes returns in 2021 – with a twist…
Boris Johnson is said to have blasted Matt Hancock in a sweary rant last year after thousands of elderly residents were sent to care homes without a Covid test.
The Prime Minister flew into a rage at his Health Secretary and shouted “what a f***ing mess” as the scale of the crisis became clear, The Sun on Sunday reported.
Another source told the Sunday Times the PM “blew his stack” in the meeting on May 4, whose existence was revealed by former aide Dominic Cummings.
"Hancock had promised him in March that he would solve the problem," the source said. "He was absolutely furious and wanted to know why the situation in care homes had become such a f***ing mess."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-s-f-word-rant-at-matt-hancock-as-bombshell-papers-show-care-home-failure/ar-AAKwL3j?ocid=msedgntp
Meanwhile, the Guardian says it has been told by some of the UK's biggest care home operators that - during the first wave of Covid in 2020 - they repeatedly warned the Department of Health, about the risk of not testing people discharged from hospitals into care homes.
The paper suggests the findings will "increase pressure" on the Health Secretary Matt Hancock - who is due to be questioned by MPs today.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-57422046
"Nuclear Dom" is the headline in the Metro, which says the PM's former chief adviser published "explosive" WhatsApp messages between him and Boris Johnson from the start of the pandemic.
The latest twist in the war of words between Dominic Cummings and Health Secretary Matt Hancock features on many of the front pages. "Hopeless" is the headline in the Daily Mirror, reporting Boris Johnson's apparent description of Mr Hancock. The Mirror asks: "15 months and 128,000 deaths after PM's damning verdict on his health secretary... how come he's still in a job?"
The Guardian says Mr Cummings made the new revelations in a 7,000 word essay where he mocked the PM, claiming Mr Johnson intended to leave office after the next election to "have fun and make money".
Many of Thursday's papers focus on Dominic Cummings' release of text messages from Boris Johnson criticising Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The Metro calls the former Downing Street adviser's blog-post a "nuclear Dom", while the Guardian quotes a former colleague of Mr Cummings, saying that he is "determined to bring down the prime minister" and intent on carrying out a sustained campaign to highlight high-level incompetence.
The Daily Mirror asks why Mr Hancock still has a job given the criticism and the large numbers of deaths during the pandemic. The Daily Star takes an irreverent view, summing up the affair as "hopeless bloke said hopeless bloke was hopeless, says hopeless bloke",
The Times, meanwhile, claims Mr Hancock is set to be cleared over previous claims from Mr Cummings that he repeatedly lied to the prime minister.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-57506466
SIMON WALTERS: Boris Johnson could step down as Prime Minister in four years, it was claimed yesterday - and he says running the country is 'like pulling a jumbo jet down the runway every day'. The suggestion that Mr Johnson has already planned his Downing Street exit was made by Dominic Cummings in his latest blog attacking the Prime Minister. Mr Johnson's former chief adviser said he does not want to 'go on and on' in power, quoting the phrase used by Margaret Thatcher who served 11 years in No 10. Pictured: Dominic Cummings (right), Boris Johnson (left) and some more 'Boris-isms' (inset).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9694385/SIMON-WALTERS-Boris-Johnson-said-Prime-Minister-like-hard-work.html
Dominic Cummings today alleged that Boris Johnson wants to leave Downing Street to 'make money and have fun', branded Matt Hancock 'f***ing hopeless' and said that PPE was a 'disaster'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9693825/Hancock-hopeless-Cabinet-Office-s-Read-Dominic-Cummings-diatribe-full.html
https://video.dailymail.co.uk/preview/mol/2021/06/17/6507053062133271650/636x382_MP4_6507053062133271650.mp4
Dominic Cummings yesterday posted a 7,000-word diatribe alleging a series of failures during his time as a top advisor, claiming Boris Johnson has a 'clear plan' to quit Number 10 by 2026 because he wants to 'make money and have fun'. The Vote Leave maverick has taken particular aim at Matt Hancock, who was said to have been branded 'f***ing hopeless' by the Prime Minister. In a Twitter thread that is now a whopping 92 posts long, Mr Cummings wrote: 'Hancock claimed to MPs a/ 'no PPE shortage', b/ 'everybody got treatment they needed'; c/ he was a heroic success on testing, d/ HMT hampered him on procurement, e/ 'protective ring around care homes'. His claims = false. Evidence here, more to come...' But despite claims the PM held his Health Secretary in such low regard, Mr Hancock is set to be exonerated over allegations he lied to Mr Johnson, reports claim. Images published yesterday by Mr Cummings reveal that the Prime Minister considered stripping Mr Hancock of responsibility for the procurement of PPE supplies for the NHS, handing over responsibility to Michael Gove instead
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9695131/Dominic-Cummings-warns-come-new-revelations-hopeless-Matt-Hancock.html