Matt Hancock care home revelations sadly come as no surprise: Daxa Patel

Another person in his place with an ounce of integrity, sensitivity and respect for those who lost their loved ones during the pandemic would have chosen to keep a low profile, but not Mr Hancock. The man even has enough money, I expect from his self-promotion, to hire a spokesperson.

I appreciate my lack of respect for Mr Hancock may hurt his feelings, but I cannot ignore the feelings of the many families who will be livid by his attempt to say he did not disregard scientific advice to protect care home residents given the casualties in that age group.

The so-called protective ring to safeguard our vulnerable members of society was just that, lip service.

A friend of mine who was unable to visit her elderly, and frail mum who was hard of hearing, and partially sighted, in care home, reached out to me to say she is felt angry.

There are some legitimate questions here.

Like how many families could not visit their elderly parents in care homes? How many elderly people died not knowing that their family were wanting to visit them but were not allowed to?

How many died a horrible death because they were denied the basic human right to have their hand held by their son or daughter when they were dying in a care home?

Also, did Mr Hancock or Boris Johnson have a close family member in a care home? These are just a few questions, but the enquiry will no doubt reveal how sensitive and respectful this government has been to protect our senior citizens.

On the subject of insensitivity and lack of respect, I feel the news media have deviated from their duty of responsible journalism by saying that the new Brexit deal needs approval of the DUP and Boris Johnson in the same breath.

The DUP of course yes, they have a legitimate interest and must have a say on whether the new Brexit deal is acceptable, but Boris Johnson? Who cares what he thinks?

Given where we are with the cost of living crisis, and outside of Europe, it might pay to be mindful that we need to collectively restore trust in all aspects of our lives, be it politics, the police force, the NHS, or even the media. Now is not the time to stir things up just to create dramatic and sensational news. Instead, let us be thankful that we had Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission standing next to the Prime Minister talking about the warm partnership between us and Europe.

The new Brexit deal will be subject to intense scrutiny which it must, but we must give credit where it is due to our Prime Minister for succeeding in turning a cold relationship into a warm one. Now, this is a fine example of showing sensitivity and respect which I would like to applaud.

Daxa Manhar Patel is a solicitor, author and executive coach.