A chemical and biological counter-terrorism advisor to the British government has claimed that the British government privately believes that the Wuhan lab leak theory is the most likely origin of the Chinese coronavirus, Covid-19. Former British army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said that “I think the official view [within Government] is that it is as likely as anything else to have caused the pandemic. A lot of people like myself think it is more likely. I think attitudes have changed a little bit. …There is a huge amount of concern about coming out publicly, but behind closed doors most people think it’s a lab leak. And they are coming round to the fact that even if they don’t agree with that, they must accept it’s likely, and they must make sure the policies are in place to stop it.”
So why is the view kept secret? Nothing mysterious here; it is fear of China, an entity which has been let to grow to dragon size, just like the dragon in The Hobbit. And, the metaphor is appropriate, since the West has become like the fattest of Hobbits, without the saving rural grace of The Shire.