North East families whose lives were rocked by Coronavius have slammed Matt Hancock as "morally bankrupt" for signing up to be a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.
The former Health Secretary, who resigned after damning evidence of him cheating on his wife in Downing Street while the nation was subject to strict Covid rules emerged, will appear on the new series of I'm A Celebrity, which starts on Sunday, November 6.
Mr Hancock had the Tory whip suspended after it emerged he was entering the jungle for the show. A political ally of Mr Hancock said that he seized an “incredible opportunity” because he “doesn’t expect to serve in Government again”.
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Now, North East families have shared their fury that Mr Hancock will appear in the show while the Covid public inquiry is underway.
Susie Crozier-Flintham, from Sunderland, tragically lost her dad, Howard Crozier, aged 81 when, in the week before the first lockdown, he was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. On March 25 he tested positive for Covid-19 and he died just days later.
The 45-year-old said it was "deeply hurtful" that Mr Hancock had decided to appear on the show.
"Anyone who is a politician or is in a position of responsibility should be spending time preparing their evidence to put forward for the inquiry not swanning off to Australia in a moment of self-publication," Susie said.
"He is not a celebrity. He is known for his disastrous handling of Covid which cost hundreds of thousands of lives, my dad's included.
"To piggyback on that to promote himself I think is morally bankrupt and distasteful."
Rebecca Highton, from Kingston Park, is mum to son Alfie who was born with cerebral palsy. He was seriously unwell when 'Partygate' was going on and the mum strictly followed the Covid rules which left her alone at her son's hospital bedside, while her husband and other son were unable to visit.
The 28-year-old solicitor said: "It doesn't surprise me. It is Matt Hancock through and through.
"He wants attention and he knows that he is never going to have a political career again after everything that he has been through. This is his only way to make money.
"It just does not surprise me in the slightest. Nothing that Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson, or any of them do surprises me because they're so lacking in integrity. Yet again he is doing something for his own gain, he will get a lot of money, and he is not doing anything for the public."
Northumberland mum Rachel Curtis, agreed. The 39-year-old has Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and is also a full-time carer for her daughter Betsy, four, who has Down's Syndrome. Rachel decided to continue to reduce contact with others after restrictions were eased, as she felt the Government was failing to protect her and her family.
She said: "It's safer for the public if that man is out of the way in a jungle far away. Perhaps he should stay there."
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK have launched a petition calling for ITV to remove Matt Hancock from the show. The petition, which has gained more than 4,000 signatures just hours after being set up on November 1, said that his appearance "will cause real pain and anguish to those who lost loved ones to Covid-19."
In a statement on the page, the group said: "Matt Hancock isn’t a ‘celebrity’, he’s the former health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules.
"The fact that he is trying to cash in on his terrible legacy, rather than showing some humility or seeking to reflect on the appalling consequences of his time in Government says it all about the sort of person he is.
"Our families were ripped apart by Matt Hancock’s actions, and turning on the TV to see him being paraded around as a joke is sickening. If he had any respect for bereaved families, he would be sharing his private emails with the Covid Inquiry, not eating bugs on TV."
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