It’s probably
inevitable that anyone taking on the job of PM will end up making a number of
decisions which will lead to demands for him or her to apologise. There’s no
reason why Sunak should be any different. I’m not particularly a fan of
demanding apologies from politicians – I’d much prefer that they got things
right or, at worst, did what they could to put things right and avoid repeating
the mistakes. But assuming that we want him to apologise for something, all of
us will probably have our own views as to which is the most important apology
to make. In Sunak’s case, my own first choice would be the ill-fated ‘Eat Out
to Help Out’ scheme during the pandemic. Launched after deliberately not
seeking any expert advice on the probable consequences, there is little doubt amongst
the experts that it led to a significant increase
in cases, which probably led to hundreds of premature
deaths. A reckless and avoidable decision which led to premature deaths,
taken without even seeking expert advice; that, surely, is something for which
an apology is the least that might be expected. It is, though, something which
he continues to defend.
There is one thing
for which he has apologised. His choice
of trainers has apparently caused the bottom to fall out of the market for
a particular brand, which is no longer considered ‘cool’ as a result of being
worn by Sunak. It’s more than possible that he sees damaging the profitability of
a large company as being a bigger sin than overseeing a few hundred early
deaths; it was, after all, his concern for the financial impact of the pandemic
rather than the wellbeing of the populace which led to the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’
scheme. But in saying that his apology was ‘fulsome’ it’s also possible that it
wasn’t really intended as a genuine apology at all. The word has a variety
of connotations, and for many, a ‘fulsome apology’ is actually an insincere
one. Insincerity in a PM – who’d have thought it?
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