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Who cares if we pay for Matt Hancock’s Jag? We do (…but not as much as him)

He’s been the ‘former’ health secretary since 2021, but still he was ferried to the Covid Inquiry in a taxpayer-funded limo. It’s a reminder how keen they all are to hang on to their perks until they get their P45s, says James Moore

Tuesday 13 February 2024 16:33 GMT
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Former health secretary Matt Hancock arrives at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to give evidence
Former health secretary Matt Hancock arrives at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to give evidence (PA)

Think about this for a moment: once upon a time, Matt Hancock was given command of the health of the nation, at a time a novel virus was overwhelming hospitals and killing people in the most horrible manner. It was a chilling time, but it feels like a lifetime ago.

Now, our boy’s back in the news, which I suspect is his favourite place to be. Thanks to a Freedom of Information request, we have learned this week that Hancock, despite having resigned as a minister in 2021, was given a taxpayer-funded Jaguar to ferry him to and from his three appearances at the Covid Inquiry. This was later downgraded to a Honda, but it still… grinds one’s gears, doesn’t it?

As an exercise in entitlement, this is on the Olympic level.

The MP for West Suffolk is no longer a minister. He is no longer a representative of the governing party in Parliament, having had the Tory whip removed from him. He won’t be a representative of any party after the next election and he doesn’t appear to be doing much in the way of representing his constituents now, having turned himself into a D-list celebrity who periodically turns up on low-rent, high-fee reality TV shows.

Yet you and I still shelled out for a Jag for him. And then a Honda.

According to Hancock’s spokesperson (of course he has a spokesperson. Anyone who’s trousered the sort of cash you get for appearing on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, has to have a spokesperson): “Matt attended the Covid Inquiry entirely in his capacity as having been the secretary of state during the pandemic. It is entirely reasonable that the government should take care of his travel and security arrangements in this instance.”

I’ll give it to the man, he has some chops. Hancock, remember, is still an MP. Maybe not a good one and maybe not a dilligent one. But officially, he can still pitch up to the mother of all parliaments, vote on the laws of the land, indulge himself at the subsidised bars. He is thus a part of the machinery of state. Appearing at events like this is very much part of his job description.

As well as drawing a generous salary, for doing that job he has an office and his expenses covered by the public purse. He could easily have had one of his people hire him an Uber.

I’m guessing that’s what his fellow former minister, Sajid Javid, did when he was called before the inquiry – because Sajid Javid appears to have some understanding of the value of showing a little humility when appearing before an inquiry into a soul-crushingly sad epoch, during which tens of thousands of people died and thousands more were left grieving, unable to say goodbye because of the rules they assiduously followed, while their masters were preaching “Do as I say, not as I do”.

It’s not just that Hancock is so puffed up that he genuinely appears to believe that he’s worth executive-class, taxpayer-funded transportation. It’s the fact that there was someone, somewhere, to pander to his delusion and sent the car, when really they should have sent him the bill.

But then, the rot starts at the top, doesn’t it? We’ve also just learned that Rishi Sunak took a taxpayer-funded jet to pick him up from Darlington on Monday night, after appearing at a GB News special that was billed as a meet-the-public Q&A, but had hallmarks of a pre-election rally.

Speculating about the date of the election with a colleague, we came to the conclusion that it now has to be January. This lot are clearly desperate to cling on to their perks until they get their P45s.

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