Imagine how those who lost loved ones in the pandemic felt after seeing former health secretary Matt Hancock’s new attempt to rebrand himself as a lovable, wacky man of the people
I had almost forgotten how hard the pain of losing a close family member can hit.
Until last week, when it struck me that it was the anniversary of my brother’s death and the memory of the grief that rippled out to dozens of people came flooding back. Even though he died in 1983. Worse were the thoughts of what might have been if an overstretched GP hadn’t told the 29-year-old that his chest pain was just indigestion, not a blood clot heading to his heart.
So, I thought, if I’m still feeling sad about Vic’s death 40 years ago, imagine how raw the heartbreak is for the relatives of the 150,000 Brits who died from Covid during 2020 and 2021, and who are still waiting for answers from this government over its shambolic handling of the pandemic.
Answers they won’t get until 2025 at the earliest as it looks like the cynical Tories will not allow the Covid inquiry to publish its damning findings until after the next general election. The pain and anger felt by the bereaved must border on unbearable. So imagine how they felt this week watching Matt Hancock lip-syncing on a beach to the song I’m Just Ken from the Barbie movie, and uploading it to TikTok â captioning it I Am Kenough! â as part of his rebranding as a goofy kinda guy.