Thursday did not start well for Matt Hancock. Britain’s 41-year-old health secretary began a morning television interview looking like a glummer version of the chipper, Cheshire-born economist he was before he became an MP 10 years ago. It got worse as he was pounded for a string of government blunders over coronavirus testing and equipment failures. Then came a question that went something like this: In New Zealand, where they have had just two Covid-19 deaths per million people (in the UK it’s more than 200), prime minister Jacinda Ardern has just said she and her ministers would take a 20 per cent pay cut to show solidarity with those struggling financially because of the outbreak. Will you?
對馬特•漢考克(Matt Hancock)來說，上週四開始得不太好。這位41歲的英國衛生大臣出生於柴郡(Cheshire)，在10年前成爲國會議員前曾是一位快活的經濟學家，但他上週四接受早間電視採訪時愁容滿面。當他因爲英國政府在新型冠狀病毒檢測和設備故障上的一系列失誤而受到抨擊後，他變得更沮喪了。接下來有人問了他這樣一個問題：在紐西蘭，每一百萬人中只有兩例新型冠狀病毒肺炎（COVID-19，即2019冠狀病毒病）死亡病例（而在英國有逾200例），紐西蘭總理傑辛達•阿德恩(Jacinda Ardern)剛剛表示她與她的部長們將減薪20%，以示與那些因疫情而陷入財務困境的人站在一起。你會這樣做嗎？