By Ben Kerrigan-
Matt Hancock has lost the moral authority to give any future instructions about restrictions after being caught on film kissing an aide whom he hired using tax payers money.
His passionate clinch with Gina Coladangelo, a non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care, on 6 May, has made nonsense of Hancock’s integrity, and is already fueling debates on social media as to whether the Health Secretary believes his own rules. Hancock has apologized, and his apology has been accepted by the prime minister, but unfortunately for him, it can’t be business as usual. Hancock’s reputation is in shatters, for him to survive this embarrassment would be a disgrace to the government.
The Health Secretary from the beginning of the pandemic had championed the course of social distancing, as he urged the public to stay at home and save lives, social distancing always at the centre of the government’s initiative he was pushing. Now, after a series of strong allegations against him by Dominic Cummings labelling him a liar, the appearance of dodgy motives for delaying notifying Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Rushi Sunak of important documents indicating the efficacy of vaccines against the delta variant, and whassap messages from the prime minister describing him as hopeless, the Health Secretary had to seal all of those highly negative set backs with a kiss. It’s a story that will go down in history as one of the most ridiculous tales of this government.
How can he continue with business as usual? Can he ever be taken seriously if ever a need for another lockdown were to be upon us? Impossible! The public will not believe he is keeping his own rules.
At the time the picture depicting his infidelity was reportedly taken, guidance said people should keep their distance from anyone not in their household or support bubble. Legislation also said “no person may participate in a gathering” that “consists of two or more people … and takes place indoors”. An investigation into the breach of security that lead to the installation of CCTV camera at Hancock’s office has began, but that can’t reverse the extreme damage the news has done to the his position and the image of the government.
Hancock is literally hanging to his job with the skin of his teeth. A Health Secretary who breaks rules he makes for others and considered to be hopeless by the prime minister has definitely lost his position of trust with the British public.
On Saturday, the Conservative MP for North Norfolk, Duncan Baker, called for Matt Hancock to quit, telling the Eastern Daily Press that politicians in high public office should act with “appropriate morals and ethics”.
“Matt Hancock, on a number of measures, has fallen short of that. As an MP who is a devoted family man, married for 12 years with a wonderful wife and children, standards and integrity matter to me,” he said.
“I will not in any shape condone this behaviour and I have in the strongest possible terms told the government what I think.”
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group has written to the prime minister urging him to sack Hancock if he does not resign, after his credibility hit rock bottom following the damaging revelation of both an extra marital affair and breach of covid restrictions.
“Up and down the country, bereaved families have been doing everything they can to follow the rules and prevent further loss of life,” the group said.
“But it’s clear Matt Hancock thought that ‘hands, face, space’ was a rule for everyone else.”
Listen
Rivka Gottlieb, from the campaign group, told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight: “If he were to announce another lockdown or further regulations why would anybody listen to someone who doesn’t follow the rules themselves? It’s a bit like the Cummings effect.”
Gottlieb is right because a health secretary who disregards his own instructions, can’t possibly believe the instructs absolutely needs to be followed. Rather, it means he has a reason he wants others to follow it because it would benefit him in ways unknown to the public.
The campaign group said the prime minister’s support for Hancock was a “slap in the face” for families who had lost loved ones to the virus.
On the mounting pressure for Hancock to resign, Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, said: “He set the rules. He admits he broke them. He has to go. If he won’t resign, the PM should sack him.”
The Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, accused the health secretary of “utter hypocrisy” and questioned Johnson’s response, saying whether or not he accepted the apology was “irrelevant”.
Downing Street said Johnson accepts Hancock’s apology and “considers the matter closed”. However, a Labour spokesperson accused the prime minister of being “spineless”, adding: “This matter is definitely not closed, despite the government’s attempts to cover it up.”
Lawyers have questioned whether the health secretary has broken his own law regarding coronavirus restrictions, although he has admitted only to breaching guidance.