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LONDON - Matt Hancock was kicked out of the parliamentary Tory party yesterday after sensationally revealing he has agreed to star on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! for an estimated fee of around £350 000.
The former health secretary, who quit after breaking his own lockdown rules by having an affair with long-time aide Gina Coladangelo, will become the 12th celebrity heading to the Australian jungle.
The news drew a rapid rebuke from Number 10, with Rishi Sunak’s spokesman saying the PM believes MPs should be ‘working hard for their constituents’ at a ‘challenging time for the country’. Sunak is ‘unlikely’ to watch Hancock in action, the spokesman added.
Chief Whip Simon Hart announced he had removed the whip from Hancock - the same fate that befell fellow Tory MP Nadine Dorries when she went on the show in 2012. ‘‘Following a conversation with Matt Hancock, I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect,’’ he said.
PR expert Mark Borkowski estimated Hancock could have been paid a £350 000 appearance fee. He told MailOnline: ‘‘They paid Noel Edmonds £500 000 and that was a top booking - either Hancock is desperate for the visibility or the money... if it’s the money I’d expect £350 000 - he should be very careful what his wishes for.’’
LONDON - Rishi Sunak is preparing sweeping tax rises for years to come for every household in the country, as the Prime Minister (PM) and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt agree to fill ‘eye-watering’ £50 billion black hole through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.
Sunak and Hunt agreed yesterday it was ‘inevitable’ that all taxpayers will face a higher burden in the coming years. Their grim assessment came after they decided that soaking the rich and taking an axe to public spending will not be enough to balance the books and protect services, with an estimated £50 billion to be found.
A Treasury source said last night: ‘‘It is going to be rough. The truth is that everybody will need to contribute more in tax if we are to maintain public services.
‘‘After borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds through COVID-19 and implementing massive energy bills support, we won’t be able to fill the fiscal black hole through spending cuts alone.’’
They added that Sunak and Hunt are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society during the ‘difficult period’ ahead.
The new PM and Chancellor, preparing for the crucial budget on November 17, agreed last week that major cuts must be made to Whitehall departments, signalling a return to the austerity era of a decade ago.
But in another summit, they concluded that tax rises will also be needed across the board.
‘You will need spending cuts to fill that black hole, but unfortunately you need tax rises too,’ an insider said.