Health editor refers to Panorama programme – but does nothing to push Hancock on what programme exposed and allows Health Secretary to spout usual meaningless nonsense
Last night, the BBC’s Panorama exposed the Tories’ murderous gross negligence and dishonesty in depriving hundreds of thousands of front-line health and care workers of PPE – personal protective equipment – to protect them against infection by the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus.
More than 150 health workers have died – along with unknown numbers of ordinary people infected by health staff who were carrying the virus without symptoms.
Panorama showed that the Tories wasted months when they were fully aware that the pandemic was approaching and that huge stockpiles of PPE were essential – and did nothing.
Yet at today’s daily coronavirus press briefing, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock facing a national audience and at the mercy of a journalist asking the right questions, the BBC’s health editor Hugh Pym was utterly toothless.
Pym mentioned Panorama – he could hardly avoid doing so. But he did not ask Hancock to answer for the wasted time and lost lives. He did not ask whether Hancock would apologise or resign.
He asked whether Hancock could give health staff ‘assurances’ that PPE will be available when needed – even though the programme put beyond doubt the fact that front-line staff are not receiving the vital PPE they need:
Given the opportunity of a follow-up question, Pym did not change his tack – not even to take issue with Hancock’s attack on the Panorama programme’s journalistic standards.
His feeble approach gave Hancock ample room to parrot the Tories’ nauseating mantras about ‘moving heaven and earth’, ‘doing everything possible’ and having a ruthless focus on getting PPE to staff.
Even though we all know it’s utter bollocks.
Last night’s Panorama broke the BBC’s usual pattern of supine, toothless behaviour that enables the Tories to mislead the nation about the reality of their shameless and even criminal behaviour.
But Hugh Pym was quick to restore business as usual.
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