There were many unsung heroes during the Covid pandemic. The doctors, nurses and paramedics who went that extra mile to treat and comfort the sick and the dying. The care home staff who put themselves in harm’s way knowing they were admitting patients who hadn’t been tested for the coronavirus. The ordinary members of the public who went out of their way to follow the rules even though they knew they might never see relatives or loved ones again.
But during his evidence to the Covid inquiry on Tuesday morning, George Osborne went out of his way to praise the efforts of one man without whom the country might never have survived the pandemic. Someone whose name had mysteriously slipped under the public’s radar and yet was worthy of a nation’s gratitude. The former chancellor was here to right that wrong. To allow that someone to be a hero. If only just for one day. And that someone was a certain George Osborne.
