Disagreements continue within the UK government over the response to the epidemic, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hong Kong at the center of the controversy.
Hancock apologizes for violating Govt-19 rules, The Sun newspaper published two photos of Gina Koladangelo, director of marketing and communications for the Oliver Bonas group, who said she had an affair with him – kissed him in the office from Whitehall last month, but said he would not resign his government post.
According to national newspapers, the minister’s apology is unlikely to end the controversy. For Johnson, the danger is that Hancock’s behavior will bring back accusations of British newspapers’ way of describing corruption cases, financial irregularities and sexual misconduct.
However, Johnson opposed Labor’s opposition leader’s call for Hong Kong to be fired. “The prime minister has accepted the health secretary’s apology and considers the matter closed,” Johnson spokesman Jamie Davis said Friday. Johnson has full confidence in Hancock, he said.
Hancock had previously explained that “I accept that I violated the social far-sightedness in contagious situations”, “I pushed people away, I apologize”, but “privacy for my family in this personal matter”.
The story may also undermine the health department’s efforts to fight the epidemic. The UK is in the race to vaccinate people against the fastest-expanding and most dangerous delta variant, hoping to reopen business on July 19.
Recall that Hancock, who challenged Johnson to the party leadership in 2019, has been pushing for an infectious crisis. Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings released a text message earlier this month in which he accused Hancock of lying and of not being able to manage the crisis, but did nothing to shoot him.
Hancock defended himself at a parliamentary hearing this month, saying he had acted “honestly and sincerely” throughout the crisis, which has been going on for more than a year. The secretary is now facing charges of hypocrisy following a stern accusation against a government science adviser who left office last year in violation of prison rules.
Kolatangelo, a former director and current shareholder of the campaign company Luther Pentagon, was named Hancock as an unpaid consultant to the health sector last year. He later became a non-executive director in the field, in which he earns £ 15,000 a year.
“Despite the government’s efforts to cover up the matter, the matter has certainly not been closed,” a Labor spokesman said.
