HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has been urged to apologise to MP and serving A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan after telling her to watch her “tone” in the Commons yesterday.
The shadow cabinet minister for mental health, who has returned to work in A&E during the coronavirus crisis, asked Hancock if he acknowledged frontline NHS staff think a lack of testing has “cost lives”.
The Health Secretary dismissed the concern and asked Allin-Khan to adopt a less critical tone in a similar way to shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth.
READ MORE: WATCH: Matt Hancock tells MP Rosena Allin-Khan to watch her ‘tone’
He told her: “No I don’t. I welcome the honourable lady to her post as part of the shadow health team. I think she might do well to take a leaf out of the shadow secretary of state’s book in terms of tone.”
The comments caused outrage, with Allin-Khan quickly taking to Twitter herself to say she will continue to “respectfully challenge” the Government but will not watch her tone while “dozens of NHS and care staff are dying unnecessarily”.
I will respectfully challenge the Government - I want our country to succeed.
— Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (@DrRosena) May 5, 2020
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
Piers Morgan, who was been vocally critical of the UK Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said it was Hancock who needed to watch his tone – especially as the comments came on the day the UK death toll increased to the highest in Europe.
And one Sky News correspondent said Hancock’s “ticking off” of Allin-Khan was “just bizarre”.
This morning, speaking on Good Morning Britain, shadow health secretary Ashworth joined calls for an apology from Hancock.
He said: “The politician who got the tone wrong was Matt Hancock and he should gracious apologise to Rosena.
“Because Rosena is not only a brilliant politician and shadow health minister, she is also an A&E doctor on the front line, and what she was bringing to the House of Commons yesterday was her direct experience of NHS staff on the front line as they’re dealing with this horrific disease that is Covid-19.
“And remember NHS staff on the front line are putting themselves at risk to care for us and our loved ones, so yes, putting tough questions to ministers is what we are supposed to do, and she shouldn’t be criticised or dismissed for that, and Matt Hancock should be thanking her for all she is doing on the front line for the NHS.”
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