Ebbie,

Ake has had every argument he has advanced demolished, with the result that the only thing left for him to do is pretend that all he ever wanted really was to ensure that greater resources were allocated to high risk groups.

I suppose it does indicate a change of sorts, but I wouldn't get over confident.

He has yet to retract any of his previous homophobic bile.

Besides, his comment concerning "fucking hypocrits!" indicates a deeply ironic sense of denial.