Two dishonourable men

 The discovery of Health Secretary Matt Hancock who  has spent the last fifteen months urging us to keep  two metres social distance from others, even grandchildren,  in a clinch with a member of his department was an opportunity for Hancock and the Prime Minster to show there was still some understanding of common decency at the top of the Government.

It would have been honourable if Hancock, "caught bang-to-rigths, Guv" had resigned at once rather than waiting 24 hours for pressure from Tory party members and MPs to recognise that his continuation in the job was untenable.

As he did not do so, Prime Minister Johnson could have shown qualities of leadership by sacking him at once, or demanding his resignation if that;s the way they do things.  Instead Mr Johnson, presumably believing  that his Teflon carapace was still in place, accepted an apology from Hancock and "declared  the matter closed."

The Tories talk a great deal about pride in Britain, but as a political society  we have little to be proud of.

Post Script (added 2th June)  It was mentioned on the Radio 4 News Review this morning that one of the newspapers reports that Hancock may revive £16 000 "severance pay" as a result of his forced resignation. That's just slightly more than a person would receive before tax for  working 35 hours a week for a year on the minimum wage.  The entitled certainly.have things skewed in their favour.