Locked-down citizens deserved better than Hancock’s political games
sir – A society can be judged by the manner in which it treats its most vulnerable citizens.
You report (March 7) that Matt Hancock discussed blocking funding for a new disabled children’s centre centre in Bury North if the constituency’s MP opposed fresh lockdown restrictions. This suggests that he regarded the potential users of such a centre as currency for achieving his political goals. Surely no amount of spin can save Mr Hancock now.
Sarah Sharp-smith
Leominster, Herefordshire
sir – Your Lockdown Files show that a small number of Conservative MPS were courageous in challenging Matt Hancock’s policies; that they were threatened for doing so is disgraceful.
But where was the Opposition?
Jonathan Mann
Gunnislake, Cornwall
sir – On March 16 2020, I wrote to you saying: “The suggestion that 10 million pensioners will co-operate with virtual house arrest for weeks on end is frankly laughable. Those that are seriously suggesting it are living in cloud cuckoo land.” How wrong I was.
The most frightening aspect of the whole Covid affair was the extent to which British people bought into the Government’s messaging and were only too happy to co-operate.
The fact that, far from “following the science”, people like Matt Hancock were actually ignoring advice in a vain attempt to burnish their own careers only makes it worse. It also underlines the great danger we would face if a truly malign authoritarian regime were to achieve power.
Brian Gedalla
London N3
sir – Nowadays the world is full of armchair experts on Covid, but in early 2020 we had little understanding of this virus. We had seen the chaos in Wuhan and northern Italy, and most of us were very concerned about the NHS getting swamped to the extent that it would have to turn away very sick people, who would die as a result.
I was a retired doctor by then, but in contact with many who were still practising, including those who staffed the intensive care units. At that stage, we knew so little about the virus that doctors didn’t even understand the nature of the lung complications that were killing people, and it took a short while to realise they needed to modify their treatment. The vast majority of them thought that a form of lockdown was essential, and were highly critical of Boris Johnson for not doing it earlier. Indeed, much of the public was similarly critical. Personally, I was just grateful that I wasn’t having to make the difficult decisions.
Three years on, those baying for blood need to pause and think. Next time we have a pandemic featuring a novel virus, what should we do differently? We need an objective analysis; mudslinging will only make politicians prioritise the optics to an even greater extent.
Dr Jenny Jessop Doncaster,
South Yorkshire