British health secretary apologizes for breaching social distancing rules after photo of kiss with aide emerges
Health Secretary #HealthSecretary
LONDON — From hiring friends to breaching distancing curbs to meet an alleged intimate partner, top British government officials are once again facing widespread scrutiny for personal and professional decisions made during the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged the United Kingdom.
Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock found himself at the center of swirling controversy Friday as The Sun newspaper splashed a photograph on its front page of him passionately embracing his aide and former university friend, Gina Coladangelo, apparently inside the Department of Health’s headquarters last month.
“Hancock’s affair with aide,” the headline read.
In a statement released to British media on Friday, Hancock said he was “very sorry” for his actions and admitted he had breached social distancing measures. He acknowledged he had “let people down” but confirmed he would remain working.
Coladangelo, a former lobbyist, became a nonexecutive director on the department’s board late last year. The role pays roughly $21,000 and requires about three weeks of work annually, the BBC reported.
Her hiring prompted accusations that Hancock acted unethically by hiring his close friend. Speaking to Sky News on Friday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that Coladangelo — who studied at Oxford University with Hancock — would have gone through an “incredibly rigorous process” to be appointed to her position.
Shapps, who like Hancock is a member of the Conservative Party, declined to comment on the photo, telling LBC Radio it was an “entirely personal matter.”
“Ministers, like everyone, are entitled to a private life,” said a spokesperson for Britain’s opposition Labour Party. “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 photo, which appears to have been taken from security footage inside the government building, swiftly went viral. Many people pointed out at the time the photo was allegedly taken, Hancock was urging people to take precautions including social distancing and mask wearing.
The scandal is the latest stumbling block for the British government which has long faced criticism for its handling of the health crisis, with many accusing officials for failing nursing home residents through poor testing infrastructure, locking down the country too late and failing to provide front line staff with adequate personal protective wear.
It also comes less than half a year after a British judge ruled that Hancock acted illegally by not being transparent over government contracts that were signed during the pandemic.
Others appointed to positions that shape British health policy have also faced scrutiny.
Last year, Hancock hired Dido Harding to lead England’s multibillion dollar test and trace operation, which many experts regard as an expensive failure. British media reported Harding and Hancock were already friendly and connected through horse racing; she has also been criticized for a lack of health care experience.
Britain is slowly emerging from its third national lockdown, after more than a year of restrictions that have kept many people at home and with minimal social contact. At least 128,000 people have died of the virus in the UK.
Advocacy group “Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK” has led calls for an immediate inquiry into the official response to the pandemic.
Last month, Johnson denied that he and Hancock were responsible for tens of thousands of avoidable deaths — a claim put forward by his former aide Dominic Cummings. Johnson’s chief adviser left his position at Downing Street in November after violating lockdown rules when he took a 260-mile cross-country road trip while infected with the virus.
Cummings attempted to defend his actions but the saga significantly eroded trust between Britons and Johnson’s government.
Since stepping down from his role, Cummings has been particularly vocal in his criticism of those leading the country’s response to the virus. He has said Johnson is “unfit” to lead the country and called for Hancock to be dismissed for “criminal, disgraceful behavior.”
Both Hancock and Johnson reject the criticism. Johnson has also said he has full confidence in his health minister.
In May 2020, Neil Ferguson, a top epidemiologist who helped advise the government’s response to the pandemic, resigned after The Daily Telegraph reported he had broken covid-19 rules to meet his married lover.
Read more:
Top officials around the world keep getting caught breaking lockdown rules
Boris Johnson takes heat for saying U.K. did everything it could about covid
Britain is now, essentially, one big, high-stakes science experiment