SNP condemn Matt Hancock amid growing calls for him to resign or be sacked over latest breach of rules

Prime Minister Boris Johnson “risks jeopardising vital public health measures” by retaining Matt Hancock as Health Secretary, the SNP has said.

The party has added to the growing pressure on Mr Hancock to resign after he was caught kissing a close aide in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

A video of Mr Hancock in an embrace with Gina Coladangelo was published on Friday night by the Sun newspaper, sparking further calls for his departure.

The SNP said there are “very serious questions” for Mr Hancock and the incident cannot “simply be brushed under the carpet”.

Its Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald said: “Boris Johnson risks jeopardising the vital public health measures in place the longer he desperately clings on to his shamed Health Secretary – just like he did with Dominic Cummings.

“The Prime Minister must at long last do the right thing and put his responsibilities to public health first.

“There must be public confidence in those setting the rules and it cannot be the case that it is one rule for the Tory elite and another for the rest of us.

“Despite declaring the matter closed, the reality is that it is anything but closed.

“There are very serious questions for Matt Hancock to answer over the appointment of his aide to the lucrative position, as well as questions over whether or not Hancock broke the ministerial code.

“This cannot simply be brushed under the carpet.

“The Prime Minister must remove the Health Secretary from his position immediately, and there must be a full independent public inquiry into Tory sleaze and cronyism without any further delay.”

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Hancock said: “I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances, I have let people down and am very sorry.

“I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.”

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Johnson had accepted Mr Hancock’s apology and “considers the matter closed”.

North Norfolk Conservative Duncan Baker became the first MP to openly call for Mr Hancock to go on Saturday.

He told his local newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press: “In my view people in high public office and great positions of responsibility should act with the appropriate morals and ethics that come with that role.

“Matt Hancock, on a number of measures, has fallen short of that. As an MP who is a devoted family man, married for 12 years with a wonderful wife and children, standards and integrity matter to me.

“I will not in any shape condone this behaviour and I have in the strongest possible terms told the Government what I think.”

A snap poll by Savanta ComRes, released hours after photographs of the pair kissing in Mr Hancock’s ministerial office surfaced, found 58% of UK adults feel he should resign, compared to 25% who say he should not.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice group, which represents those who have lost loved ones to the pandemic, also called for Mr Hancock to go.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the group said it has broken its “position of neutrality on ministerial conduct” to urge Mr Johnson to relieve Mr Hancock of his job.