A 61-year-old man has been arrested over an alleged assault on former Health Secretary Matt Hancock on the London Underground. The alleged attack on the I'm A Celeb contestant happened yesterday morning at Westminster Underground station, close to the Houses of Parliament, the Mirror reports.
Police were called to the station shortly before 9am on January 24 after being reports of a man being assaulted and harassed. Footage of the incident, shared on social media, shows the backbench MP allegedly being confronted by a man who followed him through the barriers, down an escalator and onto a train.
In the footage, the man allegedly brands Hancock a "murderer" and calls the coronavirus pandemic a "fraud" in front of a carriage full of commuters. A member of station staff tells the man in the clip: "Please stop doing this." And Mr Hancock told him: "I don't think this aggression is appropriate."
In a statement, the British Transport Police said: "We received a report of a man being assaulted and harassed at Westminster Underground station at 8.47am yesterday morning (January 24). A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of common assault and a public order offence and remains in custody. Enquiries into the incident are ongoing."
A spokesperson for Mr Hancock said Mr Hancock had been subject of a "very aggressive and unpleasant encounter". He added: "Matt wants to put on record his thanks to TFL and the British Transport Police for their extraordinary work."
Hancock sits in the Commons as an independent MP after having the Conservative whip withdrawn over his intention to appear on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. He ultimately finished third and later announced his intention to stand down as an MP at the next general election.
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