Matt Hancock in the Jungle

So Matt Hancock’s in the jungle hoping to prove he’s a decent guy worthy of public forgiveness. Good luck with that. But he is achieving something we should thank him for. We never get a true insider view of the Conservative Party and Parliament, just prepared pieces to camera for general consumption. In the jungle Matt’s become a voluntary POW under the interrogation of a million viewers. Now we know what the enemy’s made of, have a true picture of the toxicity of Westminster. Matt is a version of my fourteen year old self, gawky and ungainly, scrabbling for some understanding of the adult world ahead of me, painfully aware that what I’ve pieced together thus far is insufficient but perplexed by what it is I’m missing. It was a profoundly uncomfortable time. ‘Who am I? What are girls for? What are my beliefs and boundaries? How should I and my face react?’ Etc. That Matt is the same at forty four I put down to schooling and his time at Westminster. So much arrested development is due to bullying, fear and constant uncertainty, but it’s hard being stern with a puppy who can’t understand a word you’re saying. No my anger is squarely aimed at Westminster and the Conservative Party. The whole place is based on bullying. The front benches bully the back benches, the two parties bully each other, and together they bully the country. Their only excuse is, ‘it was ever thus.’ And the result? The whole country is in a state of arrested development! Like Matt Hancock we’re all running round trying to do our best held in a grip of constant confusion, unable to reach our true potential because of politely spoken bullies like JRM. So in a way thanks Matt, your personal exposure might expose a far more important corruption in our political life.