Matt Hancock DISMISSES calls for ministers to take a pay cut in solidarity with coronavirus-hit workers
- Matt Hancock was challenged on GMB over whether he would offer a pay cut
- The Health Secretary said he was not proposing to take a reduction in his salary
- New Zealand ministers announced a cut as world faces economic meltdown
- ) Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
James Tapsfield, Political Editor For Mailonline
Published:
11: BST , April
| :
(April) Matt Hancock today flatly dismissed the idea ministers should take a pay cut in solidarity with millions of workers facing coronavirus hardship.
The Health Secretary was challenged on whether he would volunteer for a reduction during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
The government watchdog has warned that crippling lockdown measures will plunge the economy into the worst recession for (years.
The Office for Budget Re sponsibility suggested GDP will be slashed by a third and two-million people lose their jobs if the curbs last three months.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock (right) was challenged by Piers Morgan (left) on whether he would volunteer for a pay cut during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today
Mr Hancock previously demanded footballers curb their pay, and in New Zealand the government has said it will be taking lower salaries.
But asked if ministers here should follow suit he said: ” Everybody needs to do their bit, and the way I am doing my bit is working every hour God sends. ‘
Pressed again he said: I am not proposing to do that.
‘What I am proposing to do is work every hour that there is.’
‘The point with the footballers is I was asked a question and I answered it.’
In a bad-tempered round of interviews as the government prepares to extend draconian curbs for another three weeks , the Health Secretary said he recognized that ‘everybody wants to know what the future looks like’.
But he flatly dismissed calls for the government to flesh out how the restrictions will finally be eased, despite mounting fears that they are wreaking havoc on the economy.
Mr Hancock said the ‘clarity of messaging’ had a ‘direct impact on how many people obey’ social distancing rules.
In bruising clashes with Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Mr Hancock angrily told the interviewer to stop interrupting.
‘The communications are part of the policy. That is why we will not be distracted in to confusing that messaging. The scientists can say what they like, the commentators can say what they like, ‘he swiped.
The bitter spat came as one of the government own key experts condemned the response from ministers and warned curbs cannot be eased until mass testing is in place.
Dominic Raab (pictured in Whitehall today) is set to confirm that lockdown will stay in place until at least mid-May after a Cobra emergency committee meeting this afternoon
Professor Neil Ferguson said there is no possibility of the country returning to ‘normal’ until a vaccine is produced.
The epidemiologist – who has been modeling the outbreak for the government – delivered a withering verdict on the performance of ministers, urging them to ‘accelerate action’ to create a system where everyone with symptoms, and everyone they have come into contact with, is tested.
He suggested the organization in Whitehall was not on the same scale as the effort on Brexit, despite the problem being on a totally different scale.
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