AGL 38.70 Increased By ▲ 1.13 (3.01%)
AIRLINK 131.00 Decreased By ▼ -1.50 (-1.13%)
BOP 5.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.89%)
CNERGY 3.85 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (2.12%)
DCL 8.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.92%)
DFML 40.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.49%)
DGKC 88.74 Decreased By ▼ -1.42 (-1.57%)
FCCL 35.34 Increased By ▲ 0.26 (0.74%)
FFBL 66.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
FFL 10.58 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (4.24%)
HUBC 109.20 Increased By ▲ 2.80 (2.63%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.44%)
KOSM 7.03 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.63%)
MLCF 42.50 Increased By ▲ 0.70 (1.67%)
NBP 59.48 Increased By ▲ 0.90 (1.54%)
OGDC 183.97 Increased By ▲ 2.72 (1.5%)
PAEL 25.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.39%)
PIBTL 5.90 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.2%)
PPL 147.81 Decreased By ▼ -0.59 (-0.4%)
PRL 23.51 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (1.25%)
PTC 16.48 Increased By ▲ 1.24 (8.14%)
SEARL 69.80 Increased By ▲ 1.01 (1.47%)
TELE 7.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.14%)
TOMCL 35.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-0.81%)
TPLP 7.82 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (5.68%)
TREET 14.25 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.07%)
TRG 50.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.39%)
UNITY 26.83 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.63%)
WTL 1.22 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.83%)
BR100 9,814 Increased By 46.2 (0.47%)
BR30 29,773 Increased By 372.9 (1.27%)
KSE100 92,376 Increased By 437.9 (0.48%)
KSE30 28,854 Increased By 110.7 (0.39%)

LONDON: UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigned on Saturday following revelations that he broke the government's own coronavirus restrictions during an affair with a close aide. The frontman for Britain's response to the pandemic, particularly the nationwide vaccine roll-out, quit in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance," he wrote. "The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis," he added.

Johnson said he was "sorry" to receive Hancock's resignation, and that he should be "immensely proud" of his service. The prime minister had initially stood by his beleaguered health secretary after he admitted to breaking Covid rules on social distancing, at a time when he was urging the public to stick by the measures, including curbs on funeral numbers.

Opposition parties accused the government of hypocrisy over breaches of lockdown rules which have seen many members of the public slapped with fines. Hancock conceded he had let the public down after The Sun newspaper published a security camera still obtained apparently from a whistleblower showing him kissing the aide in his office on May 6.

Last week, Hancock rejected criticism of his handling of the Covid pandemic after private WhatsApp exchanges emerged in which Johnson appeared to describe him as "hopeless". Hancock has also previously faced allegations that he lied to Johnson and awarded a contract to an unqualified friend.

He has faced further questions about his ownership of shares in a family company that won a Covid-related contract from his ministry last year. But Johnson praised Hancock for his role in Britain's successful vaccine rollout, which he called "one of the greatest successes of the modern state".

"It has been your task to deal with a challenge greater than faced by any of your predecessors and in fighting Covid you have risen to that challenge - with abundant energy, intelligence and determination that are your hallmark," he added. Hancock assumed the role on July 9, 2018, having previously been head of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport department.

Comments

Comments are closed.