From questionable appointments to toothless watchdogs, favours to friends is the Conservativesâ modus operandi âMatt Hancock told the BBCâs Andrew Marr that he doesnât even care that he broke the law over Covid contracts.â Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock âMatt Hancock told the BBCâs Andrew Marr that he doesnât even care that he broke the law over Covid contracts.â Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock Mon 22 Feb 2021 11.48 EST Last modified on Tue 23 Feb 2021 04.03 EST The sums are so vast, the secrecy so shocking, that âchumocracyâ doesnât begin to capture what Britain has become â redolent as we are of banana republics, the Russian oligarchy and failed states. Lost is Britainâs self-image as the bowler-hatted beacon of civic rectitude, as our erstwhile Rolls-Royce civil service goes the way of, well, Rolls-Royce, no longer a British-owned car company.