Politics latest news: Matt Hancock and aide 'all over each other' this week, reports say
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Hancock faces sack if affair becomes ‘Barnard Castle moment’
Urgent investigation into who placed CCTV camera in Hancock’s office
Comment: Hypocrisy is too small a word for Hancock’s betrayal
Matt Hancock and the aide with whom he admitted breaching social distancing rules have been "all over each other" this week, it has been alleged.
The Health Secretary is under mounting political pressure this morning after a video was published of him hugging and embracing Gina Coladangelo, a non-executive director in his department, in early May.
At the time, hugging and socialising indoors with people outside one's household was banned.
But according to The Sun, they have been "all over each other" again this week in the same ninth-floor office of the Department of Health and Social Care.
Cabinet ministers have warned that Mr Hancock should face the sack as Health Secretary over breaching Covid rules to conduct an affair if public anger matches the backlash against Dominic Cummings's trip to Barnard Castle.
The Health Secretary apologised for breaching social distancing guidance and the Prime Minister sought to draw a line under the episode by saying he accepted the apology and the matter was "closed", Number 10 said.
Follow the latest updates below.
08:45 AMMatt Hancock’s wife: The quietly dignified osteopath descended from a baron and a viscount
Matt Hancock’s wife: The quietly dignified osteopath descended from a baron and a viscount
Martha Hancock's oversized sunglasses could not quite hide her devastation on Friday as she stepped out of her London home before a bank of flashing cameras.
On Friday night, Mrs Hancock was seen leaving the family home with what appeared to be overnight bags, though it was not clear where she was going.
Yet the mother-of-three has remained quietly dignified, refusing to comment on her husband's alleged infidelity.
An old friend described her as "sweet and lovely", adding that her family was "hugely important" to her and that she would be horrified about the effect it would have on her children. Mrs Hancock, a 44-year-old osteopath, has long protected her family life, opting to keep a low profile and largely swerving big public events.
08:30 AMUrgent investigation into who placed CCTV camera in Matt Hancock’s office
Urgent investigation into who placed CCTV camera in Matt Hancock’s office
Matt Hancock was caught in a clinch with his aide by a CCTV camera installed in his office without his knowledge, it emerged on Friday night, as an urgent investigation was launched into the unprecedented security breach.
The Telegraph understands Mr Hancock had no idea the camera existed when it captured him kissing adviser Gina Coladangelo, and government sources said it was "unheard of" for cameras to be installed in ministers' offices.
It raises the possibility that the camera was deliberately placed by someone with access to his office with the intention of catching the pair cheating on their spouses and breaking Covid rules. It is the first time a Cabinet minister has been filmed in their own office without their knowledge.
In a further twist, the Department of Health and Social Care's offices use CCTV cameras made by the Chinese company Hikvision, which is banned in the US because of national security concerns.
08:15 AM'Private lives are private', says Edwina Currie
'Private lives are private', says Edwina Currie
Former Conservative minister Edwina Currie has insisted "private lives are private", after photographs of Matt Hancock kissing an aide in his department emerged this week.
Ms Currie, who had an affair with former prime minister John Major when both were married in the 1980s, told Times Radio: "My own feeling is that private lives are private - they've obviously got some explaining to do to their families, but other than that it's none of our business.
"I think also we should be very wary of being terribly censorious and pious that we want perfect behaviour from ministers... I think if we're looking for saints we're going to end up with repeats of Theresa May.
"And I think what the public do now in a much more sophisticated fashion and shrewd fashion, is they judge ministers on outcomes.
"And just as this photo was appearing, we had the most vaccinated nation in the world, which is actually I think what the Government ought to have been doing, what the public had been hoping for, it makes a huge difference - that's the kind of judgment I think most people outside the Westminster bubble will be making."
08:01 AMMatt Hancock faces sack if affair becomes ‘Barnard Castle moment’
Matt Hancock faces sack if affair becomes ‘Barnard Castle moment’
Matt Hancock should face the sack as Health Secretary over breaching Covid rules to conduct an affair if public anger matches the backlash against Dominic Cummings's trip to Barnard Castle, Cabinet ministers have warned.
Tory MPs urged Boris Johnson to "pull the plug" on Mr Hancock and expressed their frustration to party whips over the Health Secretary's "hypocritical" behaviour.
A Cabinet source told The Telegraph that while Mr Johnson was "standing by" Mr Hancock at present, "it could unravel pretty quickly". The frontbencher added: "If there is a Barnard Castle moment, he is going to be under quite a lot of pressure."
A senior government source said public reaction was being monitored and could determine Mr Hancock's fate.
The Health Secretary was accused by senior lawyers of having "likely" broken the law, not just Covid guidance, after images of him in a clinch with aide Gina Coladangelo in his office in early May were published.
Mr Hancock apologised for breaching social distancing guidance and the Prime Minister sought to draw a line under the episode by saying he accepted the apology and the matter was "closed", Number 10 said.
