Hancock accused of ‘playing politics’ with public health

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been urged to publish the scientific advice behind his decision to lift coronavirus restrictions in some areas, after some said he was ‘playing politics’ with public health.

Hancock recently announced that more than one million people across the north-west of England would be allowed to visit friends and family for the first time in a month - a decision that some critics have claimed shows the government is overruling local public health decisions in order to appease Conservative MPs.

According to a number of Labour MPs and council leaders, the announcement means people living in some Tory-voting constituencies will no longer be subject to the restrictions, while those in neighbouring Labour seats with similar or lower infection rates will not.

Some newspapers have claimed that the original announcement was planning to say that the decision had been made ‘in agreement with local leaders’, but pushback from councils saw the line dropped.

From 2 September, the restrictions on two households mixing introduced last month will be lifted in: Bolton, Stockport, Trafford, Burnley, Hyndburn, parts of Bradford, excluding Bradford city and Keighley town, parts of Calderdale, excluding Halifax, and parts of Kirklees excluding Dewsbury and Batley.

The Greater Manchester borough of Trafford has seen the infection rate rise to more than three times the national average, at 35 cases per 100,000 people. It means that the borough now has a higher infection rate than Salford and Bury, where the restrictions will remain in place.

Hancock had been warned by Trafford council, its director of public health and its two Labour MPs that it was too early to ease measures covering its 235,000 residents. However, according to reports, they were overruled by the Health Secretary, who was perhaps cautious of the views of the influential Tory MP Graham Brady, whose constituency includes part of Trafford, who has been known to have been pushing for the area to be removed from the restrictions.

Andrew Western, the Labour leader of Trafford council, said: “It would be common courtesy when you’re overruling the local authority, the director of public health and the vast majority of local politicians, to explain the reasons why – particularly because we’re now seeing the spike in cases we thought we may do. Nobody has bothered to explain it or give any justification whatsoever. We have to explain that decision to our residents. How can we have confidence in it if they have not bothered to tell us the reasons why?”

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was ‘regrettable’ that some councils and MPs had not been able to come to a consensus on the appropriate measures for their area.