Matt Hancock

Matt Hancock is to hold a press conference at 5pm from Downing Street. The health secretary is expected to announce further details on the government’s community testing programme. His appearance comes off the back of new figures suggesting coronavirus infections fell by almost a third in England during the second national lockdown. There was a […]

The company of a former neighbour of Matt Hancock’s has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply medical equipment to Covid testing centres despite having no previous experience. Alex Bourne, who ran a pub close to Hancock’s former constituency in Suffolk, said he offered his company’s services to the health secretary in a WhatsApp message. Hinpack, Bourne’s company, was […]

Matt Hancock has refused to rule out receiving a pay rise after being asked 10 times during an interview on Good Morning Britain (GMB). The health secretary said it was “tempting” to rule out a wage rise but said he would wait for the findings of an independent body on MPs’ pay before making any commitment. Hancock’s […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has been criticised for failing to ‘condemn somebody who is a potential bully’.  Hancock was asked about a leaked copy of a report on allegations of bullying by home secretary Priti Patel. The minister was appearing on Kay Burley’s breakfast programme when he was asked about the claims from Downing Street […]

Having finally had a minister appear on Good Morning Britain for the first time in more than 200 days, presenter Piers Morgan launched a tirade at health secretary Matt Hancock for his handling of coronavirus. Morgan played back a clip of the MP in the House of Commons where he downplayed the impact of coronavirus as it arrived […]

Boris Johnson will miss a second Downing Street press conference on Monday as Matt Hancock covers for the prime minister as he self-isolates. Downing Street had previously decided to hold press conferences on Monday and Thursday evenings until December 2. Last Thursday’s briefing was reportedly due to be cancelled last week following the resignation of […]

Matt Hancock has told Piers Morgan he was not able to appear on Good Morning Britain (GMB) because of a ‘busy diary’. The health secretary is the first Conservative MP to appear on GMB following a 201-day boycott which ended with over the weekend. Ministers have shunned the show without an official explanation. When confronted, Hancock explained ministers […]

A news presenter has been left “surprised” after health secretary Matt Hancock insisted he had “absolutely nothing to say” about the behaviour of outgoing US president Donald Trump. Hancock said there was a “close relationship” with Joe Biden He said: “The prime minister was the first European leader that the president-elect called, and we have […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has run away from a Good Morning Britain reporter as ministers continue to boycott the programme. The government has boycotted the programme for 196 days, with a reporter opting to instead shout his questions at the MP as he spoke to other interviewers on other networks over the vaccine. As Hancock’s […]

Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock are being sued over the appointment of Tory peer Dido Harding to run the government’s Test and Trace system. Runnymede Trust and the Good Law Project have brought forward legal proceedings against the two over alleged cronyism. The NGOs claim top-ranking affiliates of the Conservative Party were given key public sector […]

Brandon Lewis has been forced to explain himself after being pictured travelling in his ministerial car without a face mask. Downing Street has told ministers that they must cover up when travelling in government vehicles, despite a loophole in the rules for chauffer-driven cars. A source close to the minister said he had removed his mask […]

Matt Hancock has found himself at the centre of intense criticism after a video of him promoting government policy in a hospital seriously backfired. Hancock failed to notice he was breaking government guidelines when he was filmed at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading promoting a new review into food standards across the NHS without […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has insisted the leaders of the Test and Trace scheme ‘needs our thanks’ after it was put to him that Baroness Dido Harding should lose her job leading the initiative.  Hancock was asked whether Harding should remain in the job after senior Tory MP Bernard Jenkin called for her to be […]

Matt Hancock has been berated online for misrepresenting the French president’s comments about England’s Test and Trace system.  The health secretary tweeted on Wednesday evening that Emmanuel Marcon had “complimented” the nation’s Test and Trace programme. “Tonight parliament endorsed & president Macron complimented our Test & Trace. Massive thanks to my team & all those […]

A Tory Brexiteer MP has told Matt Hancock he needs to “start acting like a Conservative” in the House of Commons. The comments were made in anger to the proposals from the health secretary to tackle the coronavirus. In a clash in the House of Commons, backbencher Philip Davies stood up in front of MPs […]

The Conservatives have hit out at those trying to score “political points” by claiming that students could have to remain at university over Christmas – despite their own MPs refusing to rule it out. Reports appeared to surface after health secretary Matt Hancock himself did not deny the possibility.It followed the release of Scientific Advisory […]

Results of approximately 60,000 coronavirus tests carried out in an NHS hospital or Public Health England lab cannot be linked with England’s newly-launched NHS Covid-19 app. The app, which has been available for download across England and Wales since Thursday, has been hailed by health secretary Matt Hancock as an “important step forward” in the […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has denied there is a conflict of interest in Sir Patrick Vallance holding £600,000 worth of shares in vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Hancock said he found out from a newspaper about the UK chief scientific adviser’s shares in a drug company contracted to develop a coronavirus vaccine for the Government. The […]

The day before the “rule of six” rule came into force, Carl Heneghan, a professor of evidence-based medicine, and Tom Jefferson, a research fellow, both from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, wrote an opinion piece for the Spectator, calling for the rule to be “binned”. The Daily Telegraph repeated Heneghan and Jefferson’s assertion that “life […]