Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigns after admitting breaching social distancing guidance.

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In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson he says the government "owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance."

In his letter of resignation, Mr Hancock said: “The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis.

“I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need (to) be with my children at this time.”

Former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid will replace Mr Hancock as Health Secretary, Downing Street has announced.

In a tweet, Mr Javid said he is "honoured to have been asked to serve as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care at this critical time" and added he looks forward to "serving my country from the Cabinet once again."

Mr Hancock's departure comes after The Sun newspaper printed photographs of the minister and his closest aide Gina Coladangelo in a passionate embrace at the Department of Health offices in London.

Ms Coladangelo is also leaving her role as a non-executive director at the Department of Health, ITV News understands.

The Sun alleges the photos were taken on May 6, before the rule of six applied indoors from May 17 and when social distancing measures were still in place.

In a video posted on Twitter, Matt Hancock said: “I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, you have made.

"And those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that’s why I’ve got to resign.

“I want to thank people for their incredible sacrifices and what they’ve done. Everybody working in the NHS, across social care, everyone involved in the vaccine programme and frankly everybody in this country who has risen to the challenges that we’ve seen over this past 18 months.”

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice of him.
26 June 2021 at 20:57
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