Markus Andrews

Matt Hancock has accepted he breached social distancing guidance after being pictured in a clinch with a female adviser, saying he had “let people down” and was “very sorry”. The health secretary also appealed for privacy for his family amid uproar over images showing him kissing a close aide who he appointed in his office at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).The photographs were apparently taken while social distancing remained in workplaces and two weeks before people were allowed to hug family and friends they do not live with. Labour has called on Mr Hancock to be sacked, calling his position “hopelessly untenable”. Anneliese Dodds, the party’s chair, said if Mr Hancock had “secretely been having a relationship with an adviser”, it would be a “blatant abuse of power”. The Liberal Democrats have also called for Boris Johnson to dismiss the health secretary, saying: “Hypocrite Hancock must go.”But the prime minister has shunned such calls, with a Downing Street spokesperson saying Mr Johnson has accepted Mr Hancock’s apology and “considers the matter closed”. But what do our readers think?We at The Independent want you to tell us what you think should happen in light of the images. Let us know if you think Mr Hancock should be fined, should resign or should be sacked. If you also consider the matter closed after his apology and do not think any of the above should happen, please let us know too.We ask our readers to comment their preference out of these four options in the comment box below. To leave a comment you must be registered, if you aren’t then just scroll to the comments section below and click “sign up”. More

Boris Johnson said that Matt Hancock’s efforts to set up a track and trace system last spring were “whistling in the dark”internal government messages leaked by former adviser Dominic Cummings.In a frank email exchange on 26 April 2020, Mr Johnson told his adviser he was concerned that the UK could end up with “the double distinction of being the European country with the most fatalities and the biggest economic hit”.And the PM said that efforts to trace contacts of Covid patients appeared to involve “legions of imaginary Clouseaus” – a reference to the bungling Pink Panther detective played by Peter Sellers.A week later on 3 May, Cummings told Johnson in a text message that the failure to keep Covid out of care homes meant that “at the moment I think we are negligently killing the most vulnerable who we are suposed to be shielding”.Mr Johnson made no attempt to dispute this assertion in his reply, instead asking for the latest figures on infections.Inventing a new word to describe the impact of the health secretary’s performance, Mr Cummings said the UK had been “Hancocked”.“Our political institutions systematically… promote Hancocks and systematically block learning from high performance, which is seen as a dangerous menace by normal bureaucracies,” he wrote. “Thus we get Hancocked.”Labour said the comments showed that the prime minister had lost confidence in Mr Hancock’s handling of the coronavirus crisis as early as the spring of last year and said it was “astounding” that the health secretary kept his job.Mr Cummings launched his latest broadside against Mr Hancock – who he has previously said should have been sacked “15 or 20 times” for lying during the pandemic – just hours after the health secretary was forced to apologise for a romantic embrace with a female adviser at the Department of Health in breach of social distancing guidelines.In an entry on his Substack blog, the prime minister’s former top adviser said he was publishing memos and text messages to show how Mr Hancock “failed terribly” in the early stages of the crisis.He alleged that the health secretary “failed to act” to stop Covid-19 spreading into care homes and to get a viable track and trace system running because he was “absorbed” in plans for a press conference to announce his success in meeting a deadline for 100,000 daily coronavirus tests.In his message to the PM on 26 April, Mr Cummings set out his own plans for test and trace, adding: “As usual, my team of irregulars is having to do this cos the centre cannot do it. NOT SUSTAINABLE.“All this should have been done weeks ago and should not need me to do it. We can’t go on like this.”Mr Johnson responded: “Thanks totally agree“The whole track and trace thing feels like whistling in the dark“Legions of imaginary clouseaus and no plan to hire them“Apps that don’t yet work“And above all no idea how to get new cases down to a manageable level or how long it will take“By which time uk may have secured double distinction of being the European country w the most fatalities and the biggest economic hit“So your email is bang on. We GOTTA turn it round.”Responding to the release of the exchange, Labour’s shadow health minister Justin Madders said: “Matt Hancock’s failures continue to stack up.“This latest blog from Mr Cummings reveals the prime minister lacked confidence in Hancock’s handling of the crisis, and yet astoundingly Boris Johnson kept the health secretary in post.“He left care homes exposed, has admitted breaking his own Covid rules and failed to deliver Test and Trace when it was most needed. The charge sheet against Hancock continues to grow – so why hasn’t the prime minister had the confidence to sack him?”Mr Cummings was himself blamed for undermining public confidence in lockdown rules with a trip to Durham with his wife and son early in the pandemic. More

Boris Johnson has been branded “spineless” after refusing to sack Matt Hancock after the health secretary admitted a lockdown-breaching clinch with an aide.A Downing Street spokesperson said that the prime minister continues to have “full confidence” in Mr Hancock as health secretary, despite his admission that he breached social distancing rules when embracing married 43-year-old Gina Coladangelo.After Mr Hancock released a statement saying he was “very sorry”, the spokesperson said: “The prime minister has accepted the health secretary’s apology and considers the matter closed” But Labour insisted the cabinet minister’s actions amounted to “a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest” which rendered his position “hopelessly untenable”.And Tory peer Baroness Warsi told Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch: “I think it’s a bad decision by Matt and a bad decision by the PM.”A Labour spokesperson said: “This matter is definitely not closed, despite the government’s attempts to cover it up.“Matt Hancock appears to have been caught breaking the laws he created while having a secret relationship with an aide he appointed to a taxpayer-funded job. The prime minister recently described him as ‘useless’ – the fact that even now he still can’t sack him shows how spineless he is.”Labour has also written to the prime minister, the cabinet secretary and the government’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests calling for an investigation into whether or not Mr Hancock breached the ministerial code. In a statement, Mr Hancock – married for 15 years to wife Martha, with whom he has three children -said: “I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances.“I have let people down and am very sorry. I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.”Asked what he would say to voters who felt that his refusal to discipline Mr Hancock showed there was “one rule for them and another rule for us”, the Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister has said previously that the vast majority of the public have followed the rules throughout the pandemic and we are extremely thankful to them for doing so.”Mr Hancock’s future was thrown into doubt by The Sun’s publication of photographs of him with Ms Coladangelo, a university friend he appointed to a director’s role at theDepartment of Health and Social Care.The pictures, apparently recorded on security cameras in his DHSC office, were taken with social distancing rules in place at workplaces and two weeks before the ban on hugging between people in different households was lifted.The health secretary was already facing questions about his appointment of the millionaire PR executive to the £15,000-a-year role without it being properly announced.The No 10 spokesperson declined to reveal whether the PM and Mr Hancock discussed the affair face-to-face or by phone this morning, saying only that the pair took part in a regular daily coronavirus briefing.Under repeated questioning, the spokesperson refused to say whether Mr Johnson believes Mr Hancock, 42, broke the law or the ministerial code of conduct.And he also refused to say whether the PM consulted his independent adviser on ministerial standards, Lord Geidt before declaring his confidence in his cabinet colleague.Under recent changes to his terms of reference, Lord Geidt – appointed after his predecessor resigned when Mr Johnson overruled his bullying finding against Priti Patel – now has the power to go to the PM and advise him an inquiry should be launched into a potential breach of the code.Mr Hancock ducked out of a planned appearance at a vaccine centre at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk, and a regular No 10 media briefing was delayed by an hour, suggesting that discussions over how to deal with the scandal were ongoing for some time.Downing Street insisted that the process of Ms Coladangelo’s appointment – firsst as an unpaid adviser last year, and then as a non-executive director to the DHSC – “followed correct procedure”.Challenged over whether Mr Hancock’s actions may have breached the laws which he himself signed onto the statute book, the PM’s spokesperson said only: “The details of the guidance and rules have been published throughout the pandemic and they are all available for people to view.”Mr Hancock, 42, has been married for 15 years to Martha and has three children with her.Ms Dodds said: “If Matt Hancock has been secretly having a relationship with an adviser in his office – who he personally appointed to a taxpayer-funded role – it is a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest.“The charge sheet against Matt Hancock includes wasting taxpayers’ money, leaving care homes exposed and now being accused of breaking his own Covid rules.“His position is hopelessly untenable. Boris Johnson should sack him.”Anneliese Dodds calls for Matt Hancock to be sackedAnd Liberal Democrats said: “Hypocrite Hancock should go.”Party health spokesperson Munira Wilson described Hancock as “a terrible Health Secretary and should have been sacked a long time ago for his failures”.And she added: “This latest episode of hypocrisy will break the trust with the British public. He was telling families not to hug loved ones, while doing whatever he liked in the workplace.“It’s clear that he does not share the public’s values. Rules for them and rules for us is no way to run a country.“From the PPE scandal, the crisis in our care service and the unbelievably poor test and trace system, he has utterly failed. It is time for the health secretary to go.”There was a notable absence of Tory MPs coming to Mr Hancock’s defence on social media or broadcast.Transport secretary Grant Shapps tried to dodge questions about his Cabinet colleague in a round of media appearances.Mr Shapps argued it was an “entirely personal issue for Matt Hancock” and insisted all appointments went through “an incredibly rigorous process”.“The health secretary been working very hard rolling out this vaccine programme – and I’ll leave it there,” he told Sky News.At the time the photo was taken, indoor gatherings between people from different households were against the law, unless they came under an exemption such as being “reasonably necessary” for work.Advice against hugging loved ones in England was not lifted until 11 days later on 17 May.Official guidance said that people who need to meet at work should remain two metres apart – or one metre if mitigating measures such as face-coverings were used. More

The German government on Friday hinted at possible tweaks to an agreement between the European Union and Britain on how to set border controls with Northern Ireland The move could help resolve a long-running dispute between Brussels and London.Angela Merkel s spokeswoman said the chancellor plans to travel to Britain next week for talks with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson Spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer avoided replying directly to a question on what Germany thinks of the EU executive arm’s implied willingness to impose punitive tariffs if Britain doesn’t comply with the Brexit deal.But she cited Merkel’s comments at the recent Group of Seven meeting in Cornwall, at which the German leader had called for “pragmatic solutions” within the framework of the accord, especially on border checks between Britain and Northern Ireland.Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. that borders the 27-nation bloc. The debate over exactly where to conduct customs controls has raised political tensions in the territory where some people identify as British and some as Irish.Demmer said that Merkel had spoken out in favor of “considering where one can improve matters if it better serves the citizens in Northern Ireland.”Merkel’s trip next Friday to Chequers — the British prime minister’s country retreat — will be one of the last bilateral trips of her 16-year chancellorship. The 66-year-old is not running for a fifth term in Germany’s national election on Sept. 26.Germany has imposed strict quarantine rules for travelers coming from Britain due to concerns about the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 that’s dominant there. But Demmer said “all precautionary measures” would be taken during Merkel’s trip and that there would be only limited contacts.Merkel recently received her second dose of vaccine against COVID-19. More

Britain’s health minister apologized Friday for breaching national restrictions after a newspaper ran pictures of him embracing a woman with whom he allegedly had an affair.Health Secretary Matt Hancock who has led the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, is the latest in a string of government officials to be accused of breaching restrictions imposed on the rest of the population to curb the spread of the coronavirus.The tabloid Sun newspaper ran images appearing to show the married Hancock and a senior aide embracing in an office at the Department of Health It said the closed circuit television images were taken May 6 — 11 days before lockdown rules were eased to allow hugs and other physical contact with people outside one’s own household.Hancock said in a statement that “I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances.” “I have let people down and am very sorry,” he said. “I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson stood by Hancock, but the main opposition Labour Party said he should be fired for breaking social distancing and, potentially, government hiring rules.“If Matt Hancock has been secretly having a relationship with an adviser in his office — who he personally appointed to a taxpayer-funded role — it is a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest,” said Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds.“His position is hopelessly untenable. Boris Johnson should sack him.”Johnson spokesman Jamie Davies said the prime minister had full confidence in Hancock.“The prime minister has accepted the health secretary’s apology and considers the matter closed,” he said. “He and the rest of the government remain focused on continuing to tackle the pandemic.”Davies said “the appointment followed all the correct procedures.” The aide was employed last year as an unpaid adviser and this year became a non-executive director at the Department of Health, a role that pays about 15,000 pounds ($21,000) a year.Hancock has faced weeks of pressure since the prime minister’s former top aide, Dominic Cummings accused him of botching the government’s response to the pandemic. Cummings, now a bitter critic of the government he once served, told lawmakers last month that Hancock “should have been fired” for alleged lies and errors. He also published a WhatsApp message in which Johnson branded Hancock “totally (expletive) hopeless.” More

Next month’s summer recess cannot come soon enough for Matt Hancock. The health secretary has endured a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad few weeks – capped off by photos showing a “steamy clinch” with a departmental aide.The cabinet minister has said he is “very sorry” for breaching social distancing guidance after being caught with his adviser in a passionate embrace, but made clear he does not plan to resign.He was already under pressure after punishing attacks from Dominic Cummings and the embarrassing revelation that his boss, Boris Johnson, had branded him “f****** hopeless” in a series of WhatsApp messages.Even the Queen referred to Mr Hancock as that “poor man”. So how did the health secretary come to be at the centre of storm after storm at Westminster? And what are his chances of surviving the latest scandal?Mr Hancock’s messy month began at the end of May, when Mr Cummings accused him of “criminal, disgraceful behaviour that caused serious harm” during the pandemic. The ex-No 10 adviser said he should have been fired for “15 to 20” different things.Two weeks later, Mr Hancock was accused by Labour of being a “liar” and “trying to rewrite history” after he told a parliamentary inquiry there had never been a national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).During his 10 July appearance, the health secretary rejected a series of allegations made by Mr Cummings – denying that he ever lied to the prime minister about Covid patients being discharged from hospitals into care homes.Though he survived his four-hour grilling by MPs, things got worse for Mr Hancock on 16 June – when it became clear Mr Cummings wasn’t done with his least favourite minister.The former Downing Street strategist released WhatsApp messages showing Mr Johnson had referred to Mr Hancock as “totally f**king hopeless” at the height of the first wave last spring.Doorstepped by a reporter and asked if he was “hopeless”, Mr Hancock neither confirmed nor denied. He managed the strangely equivocal response: “I don’t think so.”Hancock should have been fired for at ‘least 15-20 things’, Cummings saysThe health secretary has also faced a significant rise in Covid-19 cases in the past few months, with Labour blaming the government’s failure to shut the borders and prevent the Delta variant from taking hold.Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth says his opposite number would be “forever branded hopeless Hancock”.Earlier this week, the monarch was heard referring to Mr Hancock as that “poor man” during her first in-person audience with the prime minister in 15 months.The Queen appeared to sympathise with the tough task the health secretary faced controlling a third wave, telling Mr Johnson that she had spoken to him at the privy council. “He’s full of…” she said, before the PM quickly interjected with the word “beans”.Queen calls Hancock ‘poor man’ in first in-person audience with PM for 15 monthsThe exchange may have afforded Mr Hancock a chuckle. Little did he know his week was about to end with the most excruciating front page imaginable.The Sun published photos of the health secretary embracing aide Gina Coladangelo, referring to it as a “steamy clinch”. The pair were spotted embracing on several occasions during the pandemic, sources told the newspaper.Intense embarrassment aside, Mr Hancock is now facing demands for an investigation into the details of the alleged office affair to find out if a variety of rules may have been broken. More

Labour has called for Matt Hancock to be sacked after he was photographed in a clinch with a female adviser at the Department of Health in breach of Covid safety guidelines.The party’s chair Anneliese Dodds said that a secret relationship with Gina Coladangelo would amount to “a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest” for which he should pay with his job.Liberal Democrats also demanded that Boris Johnson dismiss the health secretary, saying: “Hypocrite Hancock must go.”Mr Hancock ducked out of a planned appearance at a vaccine centre at Newmarket Racecourse this morning after The Sun published security camera stills showing him embracing Ms Coladangelo, a university friend he appointed to a director’s role at the health department.The pictures were taken with social distancing rules in place at workplaces, because of the pandemic – and two weeks before the ban on hugging between people in different households was lifted.The health secretary was already facing questions about his appointment of Ms Coladangelo to the £15,000-a-year role, without it being properly announced last year.Mr Hancock – who has been married for 15 years to Martha and has three children with her – has yet to comment on the allegation of an office affair.Ms Dodds stepped up pressure on Mr Johnson to remove him from his post.“If Matt Hancock has been secretly having a relationship with an adviser in his office – who he personally appointed to a taxpayer-funded role – it is a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest,” said the Labour chair.“The charge sheet against Matt Hancock includes wasting taxpayers’ money, leaving care homes exposed and now being accused of breaking his own Covid rules.“His position is hopelessly untenable. Boris Johnson should sack him.” More

Labour is demanding an investigation into Matt Hancock’s alleged office affair with a close aide, to find out if any “rules have been broken”.Mr Hancock is in the spotlight after being caught on camera embracing Gina Coladangelo, a university friend he appointed to a director’s role at the health department.The pictures were taken with social distancing rules in place at workplaces, because of the pandemic – and two weeks before the ban on hugging between people in different households was lifted.The health secretary was already facing questions about his appointment of Ms Coladangelo to the £15,000-a-year role, without it being properly announced last year.Mr Hancock – who has been married for 15 years to Martha and has three children with her – has yet to comment on the allegation of an office affair.Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, argued it was an “entirely personal issue for Matt Hancock” and insisted all appointments went through “an incredibly rigorous process”.“The health secretary been working very hard rolling out this vaccine programme – and I’ll leave it there,” he told Sky News.But a Labour spokesperson said: “Ministers, like everyone, are entitled to a private life.“However, when taxpayers’ money is involved or jobs are being offered to close friends who are in a personal relationship with a minister, then that needs to be looked into.“The government needs to be open and transparent about whether there are any conflicts of interests or rules that have been broken.”At the time the photo was taken, indoor gatherings between people from different households were against the law, unless they came under an exemption such as being “reasonably necessary” for work.Advice against hugging loved ones in England was not lifted until 11 days later on 17 May.Official guidance said that people who need to meet at work should remain two metres apart – or one metre if mitigating measures such as face-coverings were used.Liberal Democrats called for Mr Hancock to go.“Matt Hancock is a terrible health secretary and should have been sacked a long time ago for his failures,” said Lib Dem health spokesperson Munira Wilson.“This latest episode of hypocrisy will break the trust with the British public. He was telling families not to hug loved ones, while doing whatever he liked in the workplace.“It’s clear that he does not share the public’s values. Rules for them and rules for us is no way to run a country.“From the PPE scandal, the crisis in our care service and the unbelievably poor test and trace system, he has utterly failed. It is time for the health secretary to go.”Mr Hancock this morning cancelled a planned visit to a Covid vaccine centre at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk.A year ago, Mr Hancock backed police action against Professor Neil Ferguson, the leading epidemiologist who flouted Covid rules by inviting his lover to his home.He described the professor’s behaviour as “extraordinary”, leaving him “speechless” and said: “I think he took the right decision to resign.”Ms Coladangelo, who met Mr Hancock at Oxford University, was a director at lobbying firm Luther Pendragon, before he quietly made her an unpaid adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care, in March last year.In September, he promoted her to being a non-executive director at the department, meaning that she is a member of the board that scrutinises the department.There was controversy over the lack of any public record of the appointment, which gave Ms Coladangelo a parliamentary pass and unregulated access to the Palace of Westminster.The government was already facing allegations of “chumocracy” and a lack of transparency in appointing friends from the private sector to key roles.Lord Evans, the head of the committee on standards in public life, warned of a perception of disregarding “the norms of ethics and propriety that have explicitly governed public life for the last 25 years”. More