Share this page!

Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Twitter logo
26 Jun, 7 tweets, 2 min read
NEW: Matt Hancock has resigned from the government.
“Those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that’s why I’ve got to resign.”

Question is why that conclusion wasn’t reached yesterday when the govt line was it was a “private matter” and indeed at the start of the day that no “rules” had been broken.
Mr Hancock’s resignation letter:”We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance.”

Until this afternoon the No 10 line was that the PM “considered the matter closed.” What changed?
If this is true, the question I ended my piece with last night- “what is the threshold for prime ministerial sanction in Boris Johnson’s government?” effectively remains unanswered.
And questions about her appointment, the work she did as NED and Matt Hancock’s role in that appointment haven’t been answered.
In terms of questions over declining ministerial standards there were two other notable incidents involving Mr Hancock, both concerning the truth. Firstly, Mr Hancock said there had been a protective ring around care homes, something virtually every player in care disputed...
and then he claimed there was no national PPE shortage. In any meaningful way this wasn’t the case, there was a real shortage of key items. He (repeatedly) said the NAO explicitly confirmed that there was no national shortage. They didn’t.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Lewis Goodall

Lewis Goodall Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @lewis_goodall

Lewis Goodall Profile picture
25 Jun
No minister was made available to Newsnight tonight to defend Matt Hancock, explain why his breaking the guidelines is not a resignation matter, provide an explanation for how the public can be assured he obeyed the law nor answer questions about Ms Colangelo’s appointment.
Nor indeed to explain how Mr Hancock remains a credible actor in public health messaging.
So aside from a smattering of questions to Grant Shapps this am, a clip with Liz Truss and an off camera lobby briefing (where No 10 refused to answer most questions), there’s been almost zero opportunities for ministerial scrutiny about these matters of cardinal importance.
Read 6 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
25 Jun
NEW: Matt Hancock says he broke social distancing guidelines: “I have let people down and am very sorry. I remain focussed on working to get the country out of this pandemic and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.”
At the moment seems intent to stay on his job, despite accepting he broke the guidelines of which he was the principal (and often fiercest) advocate.
There’s also the question of whether MH broke more than just guidelines. For much of this year it’s been illegal to visit those from another household indoors. Has that happened here? We don’t know. But legitimate to ask questions about it which means it isn’t a private matter.
Read 8 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
25 Jun
Government guidance advising against close physical contact with people not in your household was not lifted until May 17th. Pictures of Matt Hancock are from earlier that month. On May 16th, before the restrictions were lifted, Mr Hancock said this.
At a different point in the pandemic in September 2020 Mr Hancock said that people should be sticking to “established relationships”. Many millions of single people have been struggled throughout as a result of feeling they shouldn’t be mixing with other households.
In May 2020 Mr Hancock said of Professor Neil Ferguson’s affair and rule breaking (which led him to resign from Sage): “It’s extraordinary. I don’t understand...I think the social distancing rules are very important and people should follow them.”
Read 4 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
24 Jun
Reported that roaming charges may return post-Brexit back in 2018. At the time some said was scaremongering/would never happen. Well EE has confirmed today that from January new customers and newly upgraded will be charged £2 a day to use their allowances in 47 European countries
EE says travellers can also pay £10 for a “Roam Abroad Pass” that works for 30 days.

As recently as the start of the year EE, alongside other major operators, said they had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges (previously prohibited by the EU).
EE says the revenue will “support investment into our UK based customer service and leading UK network”.
Read 5 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
23 Jun
5 years on from the referendum

@SavantaComRes poll on the EU

On Leave/Remain (odd question as now moot) it's 49/51

More interesting question is whether to join/stay out

Become a member: 49%
Stay out: 51%

Much tighter than you might think given out is now status quo.
Age data v striking

Become a member

18-24: 75%
25-34: 67%
35-44: 58%
45-54: 57%
55-64: 44%
65+: 32%

Question is how strongly these younger voters feel? If With these sort of numbers easy to see how issue has potential to reemerge, especially on the left of British politics.
Those sort of imbalances (*if* they hold) add to the sense that the Brexit settlement remains an unstable one- both in terms of the politics and territorial questions (see NI). It is early days, the settlement may embed but easy to see the scenario in which it does not.
Read 6 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
23 Jun
Starmer: "There's no getting around that stat, Prime Minister. 98.4% of rape cases without anybody being charged...those that do take years to go through. Does the PM accept that cuts to the criminal justice system have contributed to this appalling situation?'
"The government can't make cuts to the CPS, 25% cut to the Ministry of Justice, close half the courts in England and Wales and then pretend a small budget increase will solve the problem."
Stats on court closures 2010-19

162 magistrates’ courts have closed, out of 323
90 county courts have closed, out of 240
18 dedicated tribunal buildings have closed, out of 83
17 family courts have closed, out of 185
8 crown courts have closed, out of 92
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @lewis_goodall has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @lewis_goodall!

Read all threads by @lewis_goodall

:(