Labour has criticised Boris Johnson’s handling of the Hancock scandal as “too slow, too weak” and likened Sajid Javid’s appointment as Britain’s new health secretary to “putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop”.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister still has “serious questions to answer” that Matt Hancock’s resignation was “far from the end of the matter”.
Earlier Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth described his counterpart as an “architect of austerity” who oversaw NHS “cutbacks” during his time as chancellor between 2019 and 2020.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr Ashworth warned that the government, including Mr Javid, who stepped into the role last night after Matt Hancock resigned following a major breach of Covid regulations, must start focusing on “delivering the quality care that patients deserve”.
It comes after the new cabinet minister said his “most immediate priority” will be to end the coronavirus crisis as soon as possible. Speaking to the media for the first time in his new role, Mr Javid today committed to getting the UK “back to normal as soon and as quickly as possible”.
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