UK Health Minister resigns amid scandal | Between violations of health measures and personal tragedies

The British Minister for Health, Matt Hancock, He resigned on Saturday after learning he broke social distancing rules implemented by his own government by kissing an aide. The disclosure of the images also generated a scandal in their private lives since they were both married.

“We owe it to the people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic, to be honest when we let them down,” Hancock wrote in his resignation letter, which was broadcast by the BBC news network.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who on Friday considered the case “closed” after Hancock apologized despite the opposition arc’s request to resign, “regretted” on Saturday the decision of his now former official and accepted the resignation.

The scandal erupted when The Sun newspaper published CCTV footage showing him hugging his assistant Gina Coladangelo on May 6, when restrictions placed two people from different households not in close contact.

Hancock, 42, with three children, admitted in a statement Friday that he broke social distancing rules, while admitting he had “disappointed people” and was “very sorry”.

“I accept to have violated the guide to social distancing under these circumstances. I let people down and I’m so sorry. I remain focused on the work to get the country out of this pandemic and I would appreciate my family’s confidentiality in this personal matter, “he added.

Hancock has also been called a “hypocrite” because in May 2020 he condemned the attitude of Neil Ferguson, the government’s top science adviser, who outlined the quarantine strategy and violated coronavirus restrictions on visiting to her married lover.

At the time, Hancock claimed he was left speechless over Ferguson’s behavior and ensured it was fair for him to step down as a government adviser.

“The social distancing rules are there for everyone, they are incredibly important and they are very serious,” he said at the time.

Despite Hancock’s apology on Friday, the opposition Labor Party called on Prime Minister Johnson to fire him, in addition to calling his position “unsustainable” and not just for breaking social distancing.

Labor Party President Anneliese Dodds said Hancock secretly had a relationship with a consultant in her office, whom she personally appointed to a taxpayer-funded post, calling him “A blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest.”

For her part, the spokesperson for Health and Social Assistance of the Liberal Party (Lib Dem), MP Munira Wilson, also said on Friday that Hancock should be sacked and took the opportunity to criticize his management in the pandemic.

“Matt Hancock is a lousy health minister and should have been fired a long time ago for his failures. This latest episode of hypocrisy will shatter the confidence of the British public. He told families not to kiss loved ones, while doing whatever he wanted at work», Declared this Friday the deputy, according to the newspaper The Guardian.

The main criticisms that have been leveled at Hancock in recent times regarding the handling of the pandemic have pointed out that although he has carried out a rapid vaccination, he has not been able to completely lift the restrictions. In this sense, he has been repeatedly forced to return to strict quarantines due to the massive increase in infections and deaths.

Thousands of people demonstrated in central London this Saturday to protest UK pandemic restrictions, after the postponement to July of the lifting of the last sanitary measures due to the increase in infections attributed to the Delta variant.

The UK is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus in Europe. Since the start of the pandemic, it has recorded a total of 128,000 deaths, while in the past 24 hours it has reported more than 18,000 new positive cases.