Throughout the podcast, the MP for West Suffolk projects the constant rhetoric of learning from his mistakes and the difficulties in communicating empathy in politics.
“One of the most important skills... which is vital to do the job well, is empathy.”
Hancock has been ridiculed for crying on Good Morning Britain, after being shown pictures of the first vaccine being administered and apparently being ‘ingenuine.’ A criticism that he constantly tries to avoid in his work as a politician.
In their talk on political language and Steven calling Matt an ‘emotionless robot’ in a prior podcast, the MP admits that when interviewers such as Piers Morgan become ‘aggressive,’ he will slip back into using ‘political language,’ as Steven dubbed it. This honest and free speech can quickly evaporate and this was momentarily seen several times in the podcast.
Hancock is most famous/infamous for his work as health secretary for the UK during the coronavirus pandemic. Matt admitted that from mid-January the chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, claimed the chances of a pandemic to be “50/50.”
Hancock admitted that from mid-January the chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, claimed the chances of a pandemic to be “50/50.”
Trying to convince politicians, let alone the nation that a problem dubbed as China’s issue would become a worldwide pandemic was something Hancock exclaimed to be challenging early on.
When reminiscing to a PMQs in February, Hancock spoke about his thoughts that day in that “every single question that had been asked is totally irrelevant,” as no MP touched upon the threat of this disease.
He claims to be aware of the threat very early on, when the conservative government has been criticised for being lackadaisical with their roll-out in restrictions. Whether his claims that he tried his best to warn a non-observant parliament were true, it fits the idea that communicating in politics is difficult.
Steven does seem to attempt to goad Hancock into saying that we locked down the country too late on March 26th, in comparison to that of France and Spain locking down at the start of March. However, Hancock claimed those countries were ahead on the curve compared to the UK and this is true. But this point isn’t pushed forward any longer when Steven mentions the 21,000 lives that could have been saved locking down a week early.
Hancock thus pushes the notion that he wished he knew what he knew now and that it’s something that he’ll think about his whole life. He quickly switched back into the narrative of learning from mistakes. He later added to this rhetoric saying when the Conservatives were criticised for policies and the media were playing the blame game, they were constantly thinking ‘how do we fix this mistake’, instead of perhaps taking accountability beforehand as well.
An annoyed Hancock criticised Steven for asking ‘gotcha’ questions, implying that the Dragons Den entrepreneur was trying to get the MP to admit to ‘X screwups.’
When Steven would ask the real hard-hitting questions, Hancock would immediately switch to a defensive stance. This was seen and admitted by himself when Steven used the phrase ‘casual sex’ in trying to depict the scene in the describing Hancock's affair.
Hancock would have him repeat the scenario setting several times before Steven could ask the question. The MP was clearly conscious of the specific language in Steven’s questioning and how that could pan out with the media trying to pin him down. He was hellbent on pushing forward his love for employee Gina Coladangelo.
Steven Bartlett posed the question. “People were saying you were a contradiction. What’s your response to that?”
“I resigned because I broke the social distancing guidelines.”
This immediate accountability and responsibility shown is refreshing to hear from a politician. Especially when Boris Johnson is dodging questions left, right and centre on 'Partygate.'
I would implore you to listen to this podcast, as seeing a politician speak this openly is as rare as can be.