Piers Morgan was in no mood to hold back today as Matt Hancock became the first government minister to appear on Good Morning Britain in more than 200 days.
Holding the health secretary to account, he traded opening blows by asking “given that we live in a democracy, where the hell have you all been?”
‘Where have you been for the last 201 days?’ – @piersmorgan
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) November 16, 2020
Health Secretary @MattHancock responds to the question about why the govt boycotted GMB and its viewers for six months of the pandemic.
He says he is ready to answer questions.
Watch GMB now? https://t.co/yyUUJmzswF pic.twitter.com/dZitWAxSXm
A grinning Hancock soon cut a more humble figure as Morgan read him his rights, with pent up frustration clearly spilling over.
Following a long rant Morgan said, “I put it to you, why are you still Health Secretary and why haven’t you offered your resignation?”
After a Gov’ boycott of 202 days @piersmorgan finally gets a chance to hammer squirming Health Secretary Matt Hancock with a charge sheet of failures in a rip roaring master class of how to hold a Gov’t to account #GMB pic.twitter.com/zFR1HhMNzY
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) November 16, 2020
Hancock was forced to concede defeat on “mistakes” made along the way, such as why patients leaving hospital for care homes were not tested in the first wave.
He admitted: “The advice was that there wouldn’t be asymptomatic transmission.
“And now that we know when we discovered that can happen, we brought in the rules for care homes.”
But one of the many questions he wouldn’t directly answer was on Dominic Cummings.
Back in spring the Health Secretary defended the PM’s aide for breaking lockdown rules with a 500-mile round trip to Durham.
Asked today if he’d rethink he support, Mr Hancock said: “I’m not going to get into that. What I care about is the future.”
He also managed to swerve questions on parking fees for NHS staff, which are set to be hiked by up to 200 per cent at some trusts.
Little wonder the government have been so reluctant to come on to the show!
Related: Revealed: The real reason Dominic Cummings was sacked