Lockdown Files: Matt Hancock Wuhan Lab Leak Comments Censored
The Facts
New releases from the Telegraph's "Lockdown Files" — revelations primarily from a collection of WhatsApp texts exchanged by the UK government during COVID — show that former Health Sec. Matt Hancock was censored by the Cabinet Office over concerns that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab leak.
The draft of Hancock's "Pandemic Diaries" saw him express skepticism over Chinese officials' version of events. According to Beijing, the virus was first discovered in a wet market in Wuhan, coincidentally near a government virology lab.
The Spin
Narrative A
It's unacceptable that the UK government has such a difficult time criticizing China. This oppressive regime is not only committing human rights abuses at home but has potentially covered up a major blunder that resulted in the shutting down of the global economy. A more hawkish stance must be taken towards Xi Jinping, and the possibility that COVID did potentially originate in a lab must be held as politically acceptable.
Narrative B
The theory that the COVID pandemic was the result of a lab leak was dismissed not only due to partisan politics but because of a wide variety of human performance factors, including cultural cognition, self-selection, and social proof. Fundamental failings in the way humans practice scientific discourse, rather than a desire to appease China, contributed to the scientific establishment's rush to thwart this as a potential explanation.
