It’s happening. The attempted rehabilitation of Matt Hancock.
Questions asked as to whether he deserves a break. Breakfast, daytime TV and radio phone-in audiences debating whether it is time to put the former Health Secretary’s catastrophic ineptitude which cost lives to one side after just a few days of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
Winning stars for dinner and generating laughs in the jungle have suddenly – for some – eclipsed the suffering of so many at having to identify bodies, attend funerals and grieve alone.
His cold reception has been interpreted as bullying and has led to a wave of sympathy over the stick he’s received.
The view continues that Hancock has apologised for presiding over the period during which his incompetence contributed to the deaths of around 200,000 people – so isn’t it time to get off his back?
Tell that to the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, who tweeted on Saturday: “He’s trying to cash in on his infamy from the pandemic with no care for the trauma and pain he’s causing the families he tore apart and who are trying to move forward with their lives.
“Whilst he’s counting the money ITV are giving him to appear on ‘I’m A Celebrity’, we’re left reflecting on whether our loved ones might still be with us if only someone else had been in charge when the pandemic struck.”
I’m A Celebrity has had its fair share of idiots, narcissists and generally annoying B-listers. But there’s a chasm of difference between them and the duplicitous minister who broke the Covid rules he set for us to bed his mistress behind his wife’s back.
Remember when Hancock fake cried on Good Morning Britain over the first vaccine? It came to mind as he “claimed” to have a crippling fear of snakes the other night, only to successfully return with all 11 stars during the Tentacles of Terror trial. Strategy. That’s the kind of man he is.
Wasn’t he going on to the show to raise awareness of dyslexia? He hasn’t mentioned it once so far. That’s the kind of man he is. His strategy is to manufacture popularity from his campmates and sympathy from reality TV addicts.
The worrying thing is that some viewers and otherwise sensible judges are falling for it. Hancock has had his supporters on TV, radio and on social media.
Georgia Toffolo from Made In Chelsea said last week: “As a viewer you will always feel a little bit uncomfortable
with someone being rejected and I can’t help but feel a tiny bit sorry for him.”
Loose Women panellist Linda Robson has suggested Hancock has been bullied.
Tweeters, columnists and contrarians are also leaning towards Hancock despite his insistence on defending his shambolic record in government.
Hancock’s incompetence cost lives. His witless musings, jaw-dropping arrogance and ignorance all display an ongoing contempt for the constituents he has deserted whom he probably believes are cheering him on.
One last thing. Consider this: The painful, long-running Grenfell inquiry hearings came to an end last week.
Families have been given an interim compensation payment of £12,500.
They’ve had neither justice nor accountability yet.
Regardless of how he gets on, Hancock will receive £400,000 for his appearance in the jungle, plus his £84,144 MP’s salary – plus expenses of £40,000 in the last year declared. All while he bunks off work.
Still sorry for him?
