Matt Hancock is trying to play the hero in his Pandemic Diaries. It hurts

Matt Hancock emerged from the jungle remarkably unscathed. He seems to have won over TV viewers, regained the favor of his party, and is rebuilding a career that seemed no longer in his favor.

To I’m a celebrity…The next step in his rehabilitation efforts is to free him. Pandemic diariescovering the period from January 2020 to June 2021 and serving as Minister of Health leading the Covid response.

True political diaries are rare but incredibly valuable. They put readers at the center of important events, give insight into how government works, and shed light on decisions that are usually made behind closed doors. The best diaries are also very interesting. For example, the infamous political career of Conservative MP Alan Clarke is at once fascinating, frightening, and at times excruciatingly sad.

For those of us who have served right on the front lines of the pandemic, including myself, the idea that we can take a look at the decisions that have shaped our lives at this time is doubly important. We are looking for explanations for what happened and what went wrong. So what do we get?

First, let’s be clear: this book is not a diary. Written months later and based on notes, emails, white papers and interviews with attendees, it’s a sleight of hand to trick us into believing it’s actually a retrospective reimagining of the pandemic. Readers should also be warned that Matt Hancock does not have Alan Clark’s literary flair: the book limps uncomfortably and painfully from initial concerns about the virus until Hancock’s 2021 retirement.

The target here appears to be Hancock’s reputation for his role in the pandemic response (think buying personal protective equipment, spreading the virus in nursing homes, etc.) and the affair and subsequent rule-breaking that ends up brought to him. turn to death.

Thus, it appears that the achievements in response to the pandemic were partly a feat of personal political skill and determination. Throughout the book, high-ranking officials’ indecisiveness is swept away by an overbearing Hancock, who takes command. For example, given the controversy over how many doses of vaccine to buy, we would have to assume that the problem was solved by the mischievous Hancock, who decided to “take no prisoners.” Elsewhere, the government’s mixed winter planning signals appear to be being resolved by a “quick email”. The effect is not only funny, but also unintentionally hilarious.

The events leading up to his firing dominate the last few pages of The Diary, with Hancock apologizing for his actions, stating that he was in love. Like many people during a pandemic. It is up to the reader to decide whether this is a sufficient reason for violating the guidelines he has outlined.

But there is something very disturbing about all this. There are still many questions about how to deal with the pandemic, to put it mildly. Some of them have to do with the way decisions were made at the heart of government, but many others have to do with the day-to-day circumstances of those who have suffered the most from the pandemic, health care workers, nurses or scientists working to develop the vaccines involved.

The problem is this: when we treat our politicians like celebrities, we are confirming a deliberate strategy to divert attention from the consequences of their actions. And that’s why we shouldn’t be talking about Matt Hancock at all. We should not read his so-called diaries, and certainly should not let them suggest the lessons of the pandemic, as the last pages of the book do. Otherwise, we may never get the answers we seek.