Matt Hancock resigns and following matters

[PHILIPE]

He's a constituency MP, so unless there is a big massive move to unseat him he will just keep on attending Parliament. The locals have to do a lot more than hope to get a by-election! Whether he resigns or keeps his cabinet post is another matter...

Some locals were interviewed on TV News this evening and were quite supportive of him

 

[brad465]

Are members of the political class effctively now untouchable (as long as they are connected with the Johnson government)?

Johnson uses them as human shields for his own incompetence.

 

[Bayum]

Hancock could instigate nuclear war with Russia and not be fired at the moment. The pandemic and Cummings’s receipts of WhatsApp messages have made sure of that.

 

[brad465]

If Hancock does resign/get sacked this would be a very Al Capone style way to go.

 

[LOL The Irony]

If Hancock does resign/get sacked this would be a very Al Capone style way to go.

Indeed, but I doubt anyone will look this gift horse in the mouth, ala Capone.

 

[farleigh]

I think I would get sacked if I behaved like this at work regardless of whether I had employed the other person,/cheated on my wife/ told the entire nation that they could not behave like this.

 

[D365]

I don't think I will bother wearing a mask on public transport any more.

I have had it up to here with all the COVID rules and restrictions, but have complied with them for the most part for the general good.

But if Matt Hancock can break the social distancing rules and get away with it, why should I bother?

Because we have a moral fibre in our bodies. Given that we are on our way to being vaccinated, I’m of the view that I wear a mask out of respect alone.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Sacked, but that should have happened months ago for faiings in his health role, not for today's episode. Affairs, giving jobs.contracts to close contacts, ignoring Coronavirus rules - all seem quite normal for the current government.

 

[brad465]

There have been comparisons between this and "Barnard Castle Gate", and the Daily Star's front page for each of the two seems comparable for sure:

 

[Ediswan]

There have been comparisons between this and "Barnard Castle Gate", and the Daily Star's front page for each of the two seems comparable for sure:

Did anybody else spot that, in just over a year, the price has gone up from 50p to 90p.

 

[brad465]

Did anybody else spot that, in just over a year, the price has gone up from 50p to 90p.

Yet inflation is "only 2.1%", but that's another story.

All the main newspapers are fronting something about the story, almost entirely negative towards him. The exception maybe the Express (if there was only one it would be them), which is more neutral at best by reporting on the PM backing him.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Yet inflation is "only 2.1%", but that's another story.

All the main newspapers are fronting something about the story, almost entirely negative towards him. The exception maybe the Express (if there was only one it would be them), which is more neutral at best by reporting on the PM backing him.

Nothing about the 600 million Coronavirus tests misplaced by Dodo Herding's organisation. Or perhaps simply sent out and instantly binned by people fed up of sticking things up their noses for no apparent benefit.

 

[kristiang85]

Did anybody else spot that, in just over a year, the price has gone up from 50p to 90p.

Is it because the 50p is Wednesday and the 90p is Saturday?

Paying for a newspaper is so 1990s though...

 

[brad465]

I must say this story has gained a lot more attention amongst friends on social media than other stories during the pandemic have, even among friends who I've not seen get involved in political stuff online before. Almost all of it revolves around sharing amusing memes rather than outright criticism, but this suggests this story will stick in people's minds strongly.

 

[bspahh]

Did anybody else spot that, in just over a year, the price has gone up from 50p to 90p.

I don't keep track of the price of the Daily Star. However, the Cummings one was for a Wednesday. The Hancock one is a Saturday. Weekend papers are often bigger and more expensive.

 

[NorthKent1989]

Not surprising that Boris has stood by Hancock, but to arrogantly state that the matter is closed is quite frankly nothing short of sinister, I expect that retort from North Korea not Britain.

As I said Boris will stand by him for the moment, but I believe there will be public pressure for him to ask Hancock to resign, this is one act of hypocrisy too many

 

[Gloster]

I suspect that any resignation will be made to look like Hancock’s own decision: “I feel I need to spend more time with my family.” (Whose family, one may ask.) Johnson has got himself in the position of very publicly backing Hancock, so a u-turn might appear a bit indecisive. (Although the government seems to have made plenty of u-turns recently, so it wouldn’t be anything unusual.) Of course, if some new scandal comes up, then Johnson might get the excuse he needs to sack Hancock. But I am not holding my breath.

 

[Diplodicus]

Sacked. Ejected from the party and tthn be rejected as a parliamentary election candidte in the imminent by-election.

 

[GusB]

Well, he certainly did the hands, face, space thing... Oh, wait.

 

[bgrtmd225]

Scumbag. Should be sacked.

 

[DelayRepay]

He broke the law. Not just any law but a law that he signed and implemented causing misery for millions.

Sacking would be too good for him. But I might get banned if I said what should happen. It involves a very hot place.

 

[Tracked]

Following on from his failings, the WhatsApp messages and alleged affair, do you think Hancock should resign or get sacked?

Get Sacked, but he'll probably end up as Prime Minister with an increased majority these days

 

[Mojo]

The Met Police have said they will not investigate Hancock for breaches of Covid laws due to it being retrospective. Aren’t all crimes investigated retrospectively?

 

[C J Snarzell]

I actually think Home Secretary Priti Patel should be sacked. She's already faced a bullying prob and has told lies to her boss (BoJo).

Its ironic that she's in charge of the police and both of these instances would consititue breaches of 'courtesy & respect' and 'honesty & integrity' which serving police officers can be dismissed for.

Maybe she's been getting advice about some of her people skills from Meghan Markle.

CJ

 

[daodao]

Sacking the monkey won't achieve much, while the organ grinder (the vile Bojo) remains in post. Magic grandpa would have had more integrity and decency as PM. Sadly, I expect the voters' verdict will be more of the same, and at the next opportunity for the public to express their view via the ballot box (the Batley & Spen by-election), I would bet on a Tory triumph.

 

[D365]

I actually think Home Secretary Priti Patel should be sacked. She's already faced a bullying prob and has told lies to her boss (BoJo).

I’ll agree on this, she’s a vile and nasty individual.

 

[Harpers Tate]

I wonder (and will likely never find out, of course) what proportion of "the rest of us" (including the nay-sayers in the public and in the holier-than-thou opposition) have in fact done similar things, regardless of what stage we were at in the pandemic, rules etc. I suspect it's probably quite high.

If there is a reason why he should go it's not because he embraced the aide; it's because, purely, of the utter stupidity demonstrated by a person in a sensitive position doing something insensitive somewhere where he got caught in the act.

As to the suggestion above to cease following the rules ourselves, alongside the hope that the stage 4 unlock will proceed as now planned on 19/7; the one thing (if widely practiced) will surely affect the other. Equally dumb!

 

[Mojo]

I wonder (and will likely never find out, of course) what proportion of "the rest of us" (including the nay-sayers in the public and in the holier-than-thou opposition) have in fact done similar things, regardless of what stage we were at in the pandemic, rules etc. I suspect it's probably quite high.

In my (totally non scientific) experience, it seems to be the ones that call for strict rules concerning Coronavirus and criticise others, seem to be the ones who don't seem to want to follow the rules & guidance.

 

[Harpers Tate]

@Mojo They are just the ones we find out about. And that only happens because they are who they are.

 

[duncanp]

The Telegraph is reporting this morning that an investigation has started into who placed a CCTV camera in Matt Hancock's office without his knowledge.

I am sure he wouldn't have been snogging his bit on the side if he knew there was a camera recording his every move.

The key sentences are-

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.

...friends of Dominic Cummings, the former Downing Street special adviser who has waged a campaign against Mr Hancock since leaving his job last year, insisted he had nothing to do with the leak.

Access Restricted

Urgent investigation into who placed CCTV camera in Matt Hancock’s office without his knowledge​

Experts examining security breach say device may have been deliberately planted for ‘nefarious’ reason

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.

The DHSC's security team is conducting an urgent review of security in the building in Victoria Street, central London, where Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo were filmed on May 6, the day of the local elections.

It is also in charge of a leak investigation to discover who gave the footage to The Sun newspaper, described by Whitehall insiders as a "massive breach of security".

One theory being investigated is that the footage was filmed by someone on a mobile phone as it was being played on a CCTV screen, which could make it more difficult to prove who was responsible.

While the revelation could spell the end of Mr Hancock's Cabinet career, the leak has also triggered a red alert in the Government over who could be spying on the country's most senior ministers.

In the footage, Mr Hancock is seen checking the corridor outside his ninth-floor office is clear at just after 3pm on May 6 before closing the door and leaning against it to make sure it cannot be opened.

Ms Coladangelo then walks towards him and they begin kissing. A source told The Sun that the pair had regularly been caught embracing and that their affair was an open secret among staff. The newspaper claimed the footage was released by a whistleblower disgusted that Mr Hancock was breaking Covid rules while telling people to obey them.

At the time, the country was in stage two of the lifting of lockdown, meaning hugging anyone from outside your own household was banned. On Friday, Mr Hancock admitted breaching social distancing guidance and said he was sorry for having "let people down".

On the day he was filmed with Ms Coladangelo, the Health Secretary was working in London and spent some of his time tweeting pictures of himself on the campaign trail from earlier in the local election campaign. He also urged people to get out and vote and tweeted about "fantastic" vaccination numbers.

Day-to-day security at government buildings is typically contracted to private firms, although the DHSC has yet to confirm whether this was the case at its offices or whether staff monitoring CCTV images were vetted or had signed the Official Secrets Act.

Another government source said: "Nine times out of 10 security is sub-contracted through a facilities management company because the buildings are usually rented from a landlord. That would mean potentially a lot of people would have access to that footage. One of the theories is that someone filmed this on their mobile phone from a CCTV screen, which would make it potentially harder to find the culprit."

The fact that the camera was part of the overall CCTV network ruled out any suggestion that Ms Coladangelo could have been behind the leak, and friends of Dominic Cummings, the former Downing Street special adviser who has waged a campaign against Mr Hancock since leaving his job last year, insisted he had nothing to do with the leak.

One government source suggested it was possible the camera had been placed in the office to increase security as a result of the Covid pandemic, while another person familiar with the layout of the office speculated that extra cameras could have been put there because it has a balcony, making it more vulnerable to break-ins.

However, The Telegraph has established that Mr Hancock had no knowledge that the camera had been installed, giving weight to the theory that it was placed there for nefarious reasons.

Mr Hancock hired married Ms Coladangelo last year, having known her since they were at Oxford University together. The fact that colleagues say their affair had been going on for some time means the camera could have been installed by someone who already knew they were canoodling in his office.

Department of Health officials were on Friday night still trying to establish when the camera was installed, and by whom.

Dr Alan Mendoza, the executive director of national security think tank the Henry Jackson Society, a national security think tank, said: "Top secret information passes through the offices of secretaries of state every day.

"The Government must urgently explain how such a glaring security breach occurred and MI5 must immediately probe the circumstances. Given the seriousness, all other ministerial offices will now need immediately sweeping to see what other listening and recording devices are snooping on ministers.

"Steps should also be taken to determine if this incident was conducted by a disgruntled civil servant or – given its sophistication and seriousness – agents of a hostile state."

The Henry Jackson Society reported the disclosure of the tape to the Metropolitan Police as a breach of the Official Secrets Act, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment.

A spokesman said: "It is clear that an offence has taken place under the Official Secrets Acts and that warrants investigation. Either a tape has been leaked in breach of obligations under the OSA or illegal access to a protected site has been obtained.

The £144 million building is owned by Singapore-based property firm Ho Bee Land, which bought it five years ago and has not so far responded to requests for comment.

Cameras on the outside were made by Hikvision, which is owned by the Chinese state and banned in the US because of national security concerns and alleged human rights violations. The firm is alleged to have provided cameras that monitor Uighur Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang.

A spokesman for the company said it sold cameras to third parties and had no knowledge of where they were installed, but on Friday there were calls for MI5 to become involved in the investigation to rule out any involvement by hostile states.

One covert security expert said: "In all my years of working in this field I have never known a camera to be positioned inside an office like this. An office is a private space and that raises all sorts of issues.

"The camera is facing the door so it will give you a record of who is coming and going. But if you wanted to do that you would place the camera outside of the office in the corridor. Also, the angle of the camera is all wrong because if someone walks into the office with their head down this will not be able to see their features. To me it smacks more of a small covert camera that has been placed in a light fixture."

Senior government sources have told The Telegraph that the Government Security Group, which is in charge of security at 800 buildings across Whitehall, has offered to help the DHSC's own security team.

One said: "There are an awful lot of questions that need answering. Lots of government buildings have cameras outside offices that film people going in and out, but I have never seen one inside a Secretary of State's office. It's unheard of.

"What was that camera doing there, and who put it there? More importantly, who is it that has access to what is going on inside that office? We are talking about people being able to spy on a Secretary of State, so this is a serious breach of security, regardless of what you think of Matt Hancock's behaviour."