Matt Hancock and the politics of fear
Spectator (UK)Dec 23, 2022
The Facts
Former UK health minister Matt Hancock suggested to an aide that they "frighten the pants off everyone" about COVID to ensure compliance with government restrictions, leaked text messages published in the Telegraph revealed over the weekend.
The message came in December 2020 when the government feared backlash to its plan to reverse a policy that would have relaxed the rules over the Christmas period. The aide suggested to Hancock: "Rather than doing too much forward signaling, we can roll pitch with the new strain."
The Spin
Left narrative
While the public is right to demand answers to questions on whether the government acted appropriately during the COVID pandemic, the leak of these messages leads to a one-sided inquisition by those that were against lockdowns. What we need is an independent inquiry that can tackle these questions accurately and fairly, with proper public health context in mind.
Right narrative
What we see from the release of these text messages is that the government was consciously using irrational fear as a tool to make the public compliant with its COVID policies. Knowingly crippling the psyches of Britons for the sole purpose of retaining a public policy is inexcusable. Where were the ministerial voices of caution throughout this disastrous public health experiment?