Briton Boris Johnson said Friday he considered Matt Hancock’s affair closed (file). UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under increasing pressure on Saturday to fire his Health Secretary after admitting for violating COVID-19 guidelines by kissing an employee, sparking allegations of blatant hypocrisy.
Matt Hancock, 42, at the center of the government’s fight against the pandemic, routinely urged people to be strict Rules to obey, and even hailed the resignation last year of a senior scientist who had similarly broken the restrictions.
Hancock apologized Friday after The Sun newspaper showed him how to do one last month senior assistant in his office kissed and hugged at a time when it was against the rules for people to have intimate contact with someone on outside of their household.
« I accept that under these circumstances I violated the social distancing guidelines, » he said. « I’ve let people down and I’m very sorry. »
But the leading British newspapers that all made the front pages of the story said Hancock has lost all moral authority and must go.
The case recalled an incident last year when Johnson’s then senior advisor Dominic Cummings also broke the rules at the height of the pandemic, causing anger and accusations across the country that that Johnson’s government believed it was above the law.
Johnson, Prime Minister since 2019, has refused to fire ministers on several occasions, including his Home Secretary who broke rules by yelling and verbally abusing staff, as did the official ethics adviser
And the country’s spending watchdog has criticized the government for lending billions of pounds in contracts at the height of the pandemic after several million pound contracts with companies with ties to ministers, lawmakers and Officials left.
« The danger is that this careless handling of rules could be the most valuable asset of a government – the public Public trust – corroded, « it reads.
Hancock, who is married, said he is now focused on getting the country out of the pandemic and has asked for privacy for his family.
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