Video
Matt Hancock suggests police should consider action against lockdown scientist
Health Secretary Matt Hancock being interviewed by Kay Burley on Sky News. Photograph: Sky News/PA Wire. - Credit: PA
Police should consider whether further action is appropriate against a scientist who admitted 'undermining' social distancing rules despite being a key figure in influencing the lockdown, the health secretary has suggested.
Matt Hancock said Professor Neil Ferguson 'took the right decision to resign' as a government adviser after conceding he made an 'error of judgment' by allowing a woman to visit him at home.
The Telegraph reported that he allowed a woman, said to be his 'lover', to visit him at home in London on at least two occasions during the lockdown, on March 30 and April 8.
The Imperial College London researcher, whose work was crucial in Boris Johnson's move to enforce strict conditions, stood down from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
Hancock said he was rendered speechless after learning of Prof Ferguson's 'extraordinary' breach of the rules, claiming that he first learned about the story in the newspaper.
You may also want to watch:
The cabinet minister praised him as a 'very eminent' scientist whose work has been 'important' in the government's response, but said he had to resign.
MORE: Boris Johnson accused of flouting coronavirus guidelines by staying in 'holiday home'
Asked about police involvement, Hancock told Sky News: 'They will take their decisions independently from ministers, that's quite right, it's always been like that.
Most Read
- 1 Why don't Brexiteers like to talk about Brexit any more?
- 2 Major disaster: How Tories' 1992 victory sowed seeds of Brexit
- 3 Is the Sun setting on Murdoch's global media empire?
- 4 Brexit: British 'expats' in Spain facing deportation over residency
- 5 The 40 best European TV shows to stream
- 6 The fight against the homogenisation of the British Isles
- 7 Did Donald Trump really wear his trousers backwards at Republicans' North Carolina rally?
- 8 Five years of Brexit summed up by Cold War Steve
- 9 Michael O'Leary: My hope for the future over Brexit
- 10 When Eton took on a team of miners at football
'Even though I have got a clear answer to what I think, as a minister the way we run the police is that they make decisions like this.
'So I give them their space to make that decision, but I think he took the right decision to resign.'
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
