Hancock grilled by Garraway over hurt of lockdown rules
MATT HANCOCK faced a torrid time at the hands of Kate Garraway yesterday over pandemic rules on hospital visits.
The former health secretary was challenged on ITV’S Good Morning Britain over his foray into reality television and a lockdown memoir which was published ahead of the Covid inquiry.
Garroway, whose husband Derek Draper spent a year in hospital with coronavirus, said she and others were unable to visit loved ones because of the lockdown rules that Mr Hancock had imposed and she questioned whether he grasped the hurt they had caused.
“I couldn’t visit Derek in hospital, he couldn’t see his kids. Thousands of others couldn’t go and see the people they loved,” said Garraway.
Mr Hancock replied: “I get all that, I really do, and I really feel it.”
He said he must discuss what happened, adding “I feel like it’s my duty because we’re all human, we all make mistakes.” GMB host Susanna Reid challenged Mr Hancock on his pandemic affair with Gina Coladangelo, his special adviser, which led to his resignation.
Pressing him on the scandal, when a passionate embrace with Ms Coladangelo, who is now his partner, was caught on CCTV and leaked to The Sun, Reid asked: “Lots of people find it completely astonishing that you could stand at the podium month after month telling people to stick to the rules, but for some reason, they didn’t apply to you.”
Mr Hancock said: “Well, I’m only human.” Reid responded: “Sorry – the whole country is only human.”
Mr Hancock, who has remained the MP for West Suffolk but is standing down at the general election, has since appeared on ITV’S I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! an appearance for which he lost the Tory party whip.
He described the 3 per cent of his £320,000 appearance fee that he donated to charity as a “decent sum”.