The Daily Telegraph, 10 December, Matt Ridley
On Monday, Rishi Sunak will appear at the Covid Inquiry. It barely matters what he says because it is as predictable as sunrise that he will be pilloried for the mistakes of others, that being the modern purpose of politicians, it seems.
In his own appearance, Boris Johnson said that he was “very much impressed and dependent upon the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser, both of whom are outstanding experts in their field”. Weren’t we all? In those early months of 2020, most of us trusted Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty to find the best way through the impending pandemic. We were glad to “follow the science”.
Yet now we have to listen to a lawyer, Hugo Keith KC, tell us with the benefit of three years of hindsight, that the entire pandemic was all the fault of politicians.
The virus, the Chinese regime and the scientists are spotless in their reputations, it seems. Had Sunak and Johnson acted differently, then apparently almost nobody would have died.
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