Matt Hancock threatened with being kicked out of Commons by Sir Lindsay Hoyle during heated PMQs care homes clash

"Sorry, do you want to leave?"
Ewan Somerville20 May 2020
WEST END FINAL

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The Health Secretary was threatened with being kicked out of the Commons this lunchtime.

Matt Hancock was rebuked by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle during a heated Prime Minister's Questions.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was grilling Boris Johnson on the care homes crisis and Mr Hancock's claim that ministers have "thrown a protective ring" around homes.

Mr Hancock defied protocol to stay silent while another member is speaking to shout across the dispatch box at Sir Keir.

Matt Hancock was rebuked in the Commons 
PRU/AFP via Getty Images

It prompted Speaker Hoyle to say: "Order, Secretary of State for Health - please - I don't mind you advising the Prime Minister but you don't need to advise the opposition during this."

When Mr Hancock tried to fire back, the Speaker returned: "Sorry, do you want to leave the chamber? We've got maximum numbers if you want to give way to someone else I'm more than happy."

The number of MPs in the Commons is currently limited to 50 to adhere to social distancing rules, with others joining proceedings remotely.

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle threatened to kick Matt Hancock out of the chamber
Parliament TV

Sir Keir took issue with Mr Hancock's claim that the Government had shielded care homes from the outset of the crisis, claiming it had been "flatly contradicted" by care home chiefs.

It came after Professor Martin Green of Care England launched a stinging attack on Number 10 on Tuesday, telling MPs that "we should have been focusing on care homes from the start".

The care home boss highlighted how elderly patients infected with Covid-19 were transferred from hospital wards back into residences.

Sir Keir, pointing to Government ;advice initially saying these transfers could be made, asked Mr Johnson: “What's protective about that?”

Mr Johnson replied by saying "no one has been discharged into a care home without the authorisation of a clinician".

The fiery exchange also saw the PM say the Government is making "fast progress" on testing and tracing.

Sir Keir Starmer challenged Boris Johnson over the care homes crisis and the test and trace rollout
Sky News

He added: "I have great confidence that by June 1 we will have a system that will enable us, that will help us very greatly to defeat this disease and move the country forward.”

But Sir Keir fired back: “This is the last PMQs for two weeks, can the Prime Minister indicate that an effective test, trace and isolate system will be in place by June 1, Monday week?”

Mr Johnson replied: “What he heard is that we have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and yes, it will be in place, it will be in place by June 1.”

He added that “there will be 25,000 trackers, they will be able to cope with 10,000 new cases a day”.

Currently the UK's breakthrough track and trace NHS app is only being trialled on the Isle of Wight ahead of a national rollout which proves vital to easing the lockdown further.

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