Harriet Harman and Neil Coyle are among dozens to call out Matt Hancock’s comments to a fellow MP and keyworker after he told her to ‘watch her tone’ during a parliamentary debate about testing and the UK’s COVID-19 death toll.
Camberwell and Peckham MP described the exchange as ‘creepy’ while Neil Coyle called on the health and social care secretary to issue an apology.
In the House of Commons, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Tooting MP and a medical doctor, asked Hancock whether he acknowledged that a lack of testing has lost lives and been responsible for families being torn apart.
Hancock flatly denied this as ‘untrue’ and told her she would be better served using a different tone in her line of questioning.
You can watch the exchange here:
I will respectfully challenge the Government – I want our country to succeed.
However, I will not 'watch my tone' when dozens of NHS and care staff are dying unnecessarily.
A clip of my Q to the Health Sec today. pic.twitter.com/5jjQRXyIm3
— Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (@DrRosena) May 5, 2020
I hope Hancock apologises for his condescension to a frontline worker. https://t.co/VbGa7u12Cp
— Neil Coyle (@coyleneil) May 6, 2020