People are accusing health secretary Matt Hancock of hypocrisy after pictures of him kissing a colleague have emerged just months after he put a 'casual sex ban' in place.
The married politician was snapped kissing the department of health's non executive director, Gina Coladangelo, in pictures obtained by The Sun this morning.
Now, people are harking back to the social distancing rules he has been championing since the start of the pandemic, and the ban he put on casual sex last year.
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Check out a clip below:
"Wonderful example of @MattHancock social distancing with his aide this morning doing the rounds," one person sarcastically wrote as the images surfaced.
Meanwhile, another said: "#IsItOk that @MattHancock last year schooled the public on the restrictions of the 'casual sex ban' and has been caught fooling around outside an 'established relationship'?"
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"@MattHancock has spent the last 12months telling people they cant hug or kiss their loved ones and even put a ban on casual sex. And he's doing this?," a third wrote.
As a fourth penned: "This is the issue for me. Life is complicated, marriages are complicated, people are human.
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"But thinking you can ban sex for millions of people while doing whatever you like yourself?"
"Breaking your own social distancing rules? Colour me surprised," wrote another critic.
It comes after Matt Hancock was asked to define the sex ban back in September last year, and famously told the public they shouldn't break social distancing rules with anyone unless they're in an 'established relationship'.
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He added that people in "the early stages of a relationship" should still be "careful" and "sensible", adding that they should "take particular care to follow the guidance on social distancing".
Hancock was quizzed further on the matter by Sky News' Kay Burley, Kay Burley.
"In these rules that we have to bring in, there have to be boundaries, to coin a phrase," she said.
"If you're saying that two households shouldn't mix, which we are in some parts of the country - in the North East, the North West, in Scotland, in parts of Wales - then you have to then define what is the boundary of that."
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The Health secretary replied: "I think we should stick to the letter of it, which is it is okay in an established relationship.
Referring (presumably) to his wife, he then joked: "I know I am in an established relationship.
"It just means that people need to be careful, they need to be sensible.
"If you're in a relationship that is well established... what it means is people realising that coming into close contact with people from other households, then that is how the virus spreads.
"We all want to keep this virus under control, we all need to play our part and playing our part involves following our social distancing rules, and from today downloading the [NHS contact tracing] app, that is part of doing your bit and it means abiding by these rules in their letter and their spirit".
Gina Coladangelo - the woman pictured locking lips with Hancock - was appointed into the role at the Department of Health by Matt Hancock last September.
She is also marketing and communications director at Oliver Bonas.
On her appointment into government, a representative for the Department Of Health told the BBC: "This appointment was made in the usual way and followed correct procedure."
An insider close to Hancock told the broadcaster that he had "no comment on personal matters", adding: "No rules have been broken".
Featured Image Credit: PA