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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Anna Davis

Matt Hancock says he got coaching to overcome dyslexia and read Covid autocue

Matt Hancock Prison

Former health secretary Matt Hancock during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (Dan Kitwood/PA)

(Picture: PA Archive)

Matt Hancock has revealed he was so worried his dyslexia would hinder him reading the autocue during Covid press briefings that he asked for help on tricky words.

Professor Sir Jonathan Van Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic and known as JVT, spent half an hour helping the then-health secretary learn to read the word “dexamethasone” before a TV press conference.

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