Three times Matt Hancock hit out at coronavirus rule-breakers

Matt Hancock has sparked outrage across the country after he was caught passionately kissing his aide at a time when families were being urged to stay apart.

Images of the West Suffolk MP passionately embracing his married aide Gina Coladangelo in his private office at the Department of Health last month were revealed on the front page of The Sun yesterday.

The footage is believed to have been taken on May 6 - eleven days before rules which stopped Brits hugging their loved ones were lifted.

Guidance at the time also urged people to stay two metres apart, avoid meeting other households indoors, and to 'keep their distance from anyone not in their household'.

Mr Hancock, who is married with three children, has admitted breaking the Covid-19 restrictions, which he played a part in creating, and said he was 'very sorry' to have 'let people down'.

Just minutes ago, he also resigned from his role as health secretary.

The 42 year old, who since last March has lambasted those who have broken the lockdown rules, has now been branded a hypocrite.

We take a look at some of the times Mr Hancock publicly hit out at rule-breakers:

Agreeing with fines handed to girls who went for walk at outdoor beauty spot

In January, two 27-year-old women were handed £200 fines after they went for a walk in Derbyshire while holding cups of peppermint teas.

These rules are not there as boundaries to be pushed, they are the limit of what people should be doing. - Matt Hancock

Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore both drove five miles to go for a walk at Foremark Reservoir.

They were stopped by police who insisted that their hot drinks were classed as a 'picnic' and fined them for breaking coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Hancock said he agreed with the officers' decision and that police were doing an 'absolutely brilliant job'.

Speaking to Sky News at the time, he said: "The challenge here is that every flexibility can be fatal. You might look at the rules and think to yourself, well it doesn’t matter too much if I just do this or I just do that.

"These rules are not there as boundaries to be pushed, they are the limit of what people should be doing."

"You know, we haven’t brought them in because we wanted to, we’ve brought them in because we’ve had to, and every flexibility can be fatal."

He added: "The problem is this virus is so contagious, it then passes on and as we have seen, it is deadly, and there are people dying every day, and the NHS has got this enormous pressure on it, like it’s never seen before."

Backing police action against Professor Neil Ferguson

In May last year, Professor Neil Ferguson hit the headlines after he broke social distancing rules by having a woman visit his home in London.

Prof Ferguson, who was nicknamed 'Professor Lockdown' after showing strong support for shutting the country down, resigned as a government advisor on coronavirus, after admitting he 'undermined' the social distancing rules.

I give them their space to make that decision, but I think he took the right decision to resign. - Matt Hancock

Talking to Sky News, Mr Hancock said Prof Ferguson's decision to leave his post was 'the right decision' and said it was 'just not possible' for him to keep his job.

Mr Hancock even went so far as to support police taking action against the shamed epidemiologist.

He said: "I back the police here. They will take their decisions independently from ministers, that’s quite right, it’s always been like that.

“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.”

He added that the professor's actions had left him 'speechless' and said the 'deadly serious' social distancing rules were 'there for everyone'.

Saying only people in 'established relationships' can be intimate

Government guidance was updated in September last year, when full lockdown was no longer in place, to allow only those who were in 'established relationships' to be intimate despite living separately.

The new guidance still banned casual encounters, with Mr Hancock having insisted there 'had to be boundaries', as the government tried to slow the spread of coronavirus and prevent a second wave.

At the time, Mr Hancock told Sky News: "I think we should stick to the letter of it, which is it is okay in an established relationship.

"It just means that people need to be careful, they need to be sensible.

"What it means is people realising that coming into close contact with people from other households, then that is how the virus spreads."

He later joked about his marriage, having said: "I know I am in an established relationship."

Read more: All the latest news from Suffolk